Crane Bank
Tel:(256-414) 345345, 256511,341414 | Fax: Fax:(256-414) 231578
Location: Plot No 38, Kampala Road,Kampala, Uganda. Postal Address: P.O. Box 22572, Kampala, Uganda.  Crane Bank: Services in all Our 46 branches going on normally Crane Bank limited has broken the silence on the rumors about its closure and news of the Bank seeking to sell shares to potential investors, an issue that has caused unrest among the Bank’s customers.The issue was escalated by social media messages, especially on Whatsapp which alleged that an insider in the Central Bank of Uganda (BoU) had warned Crane Bank Customers to withdraw their money in a week’s time, a statement which BoU disowned.“It has been brought to our attention that messages have been circulating on whatsapp instructing depositors to withdraw their money from Crane Bank within the next week. We wish to categorically state that these messages were not issued by the Bank of Uganda,” Christine Alupo, Bank of Uganda’s Director Communications said in a statement released.Following the bank statement, several images of people lining up in front of Crane Bank, started making rounds on social media, with claims that those were people lining up to withdraw their money as advised by the “Bank of Uganda Insider.” Read more ▪  BoU Assures Customers: Crane Bank is Safe Bank of Uganda has come out to assure Crane Bank customers about the safety of their money following news of the Bank seeking to sell shares to strategic private investors, an issue that has caused discomfort among the Bank’s customers.The intervention comes amid panic amongst Crane Bank customers in response to rumors that have been circulating over social media, suggesting that the central bank instructed depositors to withdraw their money within the next week.“It has been brought to our attention that messages have been circulating on whatsapp instructing depositors to withdraw their money from Crane Bank within the next week. We wish to categorically state that these messages were not issued by the Bank of Uganda,” Christine Alupo, Bank of Uganda’s Director Communications said in a statement.She confirmed that they had received several enquiries about Crane Bank, which is one of 25 commercial banks licensed and supervised by the Central Bank.Read more ▪ Uganda: Bank of Uganda 'Unaware' of Crane Bank Sale Bank of Uganda (BOU) is yet to receive official communication on the proposed move to sell shares in Crane bank.Christine Alupo, director for communications BOU, says the central bank has not received any request from Crane bank to approve change in shareholding. Sudhir Ruparelia, the proprietor of Crane Bank has confirmed that he is in talks with what he calls a "strategic partner" to acquire stakes in the bank. In a statement issued on Friday last week, Crane bank said they had initially wanted to float shares on the stock market but now want private equiURNty instead.Ideally, the bank said, they are looking for a partner with regional or continental footing. Media reports have suggested that the potential Crane bank partners are South African, although other sources also suggest they may be Ethiopian. Details on the "strategic partner" are not public yet.An entity who did due diligence for an interested party in the Crane bank shares acquisition declined to divulge any details citing confidentiality. Read more ▪ Crane Bank: Shilling gains ground against the dollar The shilling gained slightly to trade at 3,430/3,440 buying and selling respectively at most commercial banks due to little appetite for the dollar as the businesses carefully watch the post-election period. At the close of business, the shilling was trading slightly worse at 3,434/3,444. The shilling is expected to gain significantly from a Treasury bond auction according to a Reuters report. “We could see it (shilling) strengthen a little from the inflows that we expect from the auction,” Ali Abbas, a trader at Crane Bank told Reuters, referring to the debt sale where sh190b worth of 3 and 5 year bonds are to be auctioned. He pointed out that demand for the dollar has been low since the presidential election due to some traders leaving Kampala due to fears of unrest. Most traders are still observing developments in the economy. Stephen Kaboyo of Alpha Capital Partners noted the shillings gains could be short lived and expected the local unit to come under more pressure as dollar demand starts to pick up. Read more ▪ Court stops Crane Bank from selling client’s city property Court has stopped Crane Bank from selling property worth billions that was mortgaged by its client as security.The property under controversy registered in the names of Miao Hua Xian is on Plot 47 Nabugabo Road worth Shs2b and Plot 53 Mackenzie Vale, Kololo worth Shs3.9b, both in Kampala District.High Court Judge Christopher Madrama of the Commercial Division also directed the bank’s client, Ms Xian to deposit Shs4b to the bank.“Upon deposit of the sum of money by the applicant, the injunction shall last from date of this order unless otherwise the period is extended by this court from time or by consent of the parties,” ordered Justice Madrama warning that failure to deposit the said money, the order shall lapse.The court order arose from a row between Crane Bank and Ms Xian over the impending sale of mortgaged prime properties worth over Shs6b. Read more ▪ Client sues Crane Bank over Shs6 billion city property Crane Bank Limited is embroiled in a Shs6 billion property row with its client over the impending sale of mortgaged properties.The property under controversy registered in the names of Miao Hua Xian is on Plot 47 Nabugabo Road worth Shs2 billion and Plot 53 Mackenzie Vale, Kololo worth Shs3.9 billion, both in Kampala District.Ms Xian has sued Crane Bank alleging that the credit sanctions and mortgages extended to her were in contravention of the laws and not enforceable.Through her lawyers Muwema and Company Advocates, Ms Xian wants a declaration that the penal interest charged by the bank under the credit facilities is extortionate, unconscionable and illegal. Read more ▪ Crane Bank starts 24-hour banking Crane Bank has announced plans to begin testing 24-hour banking.The service will initially be conducted at the bank’s two branches in Bugolobi on Village Mall and the Kisementi Mall.While commissioning the Crane Bank Kisementi branch, Mr Joseph Birimbona the bank’s chairman said they are testing the 24-hour operations in the two locations, given that they are unique locations with potential for business growth.“We have people coming here for entertainment. We have offices and residential houses so these are potential clients we are targeting,” he said.The current banking environment, he added, requires that they move ahead of other industry players to edge completion. Read more ▪ Crane Bank suspends listing of shares Crane Bank’s plan to list on the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE) has been put on hold, Daily Monitor can reveal. This means that Ugandans who were looking to own part of the bank through buying shares at the stock exchange will have to wait as the bank continues to deepen its penetration both within and outside the country’s borders. In an interview after commissioning its 43rd branch in Ndeeba, a Kampala suburb last week, the board chairman, Mr Joseph Biribonwa, said the move to list on the stock exchange will have to wait as there are other priorities to deal with before attention is focused on going public—move for Initial Public Offering (IPO). He said: “At the moment we are not taking that route although we know that it is important for Ugandans to own part of the bank.”He continued: “We are reviewing that plan and there should not be any reason to panic.”Industry analysts are tight-lipped on the matter, saying it is too early to understand why the bank has backtracked on its stance to offer part of its stake to the public. Read more ▪  Crane Bank invests Shs825b in expansion In bid to increase its visibility and take banking services closer to the people, Crane Bank has invested about Shs825 billion in opening branches across the country.It has budgeted about Shs200 billion, most of which will be spent in increasing the banks presence around the country.Speaking in an interview after launching its 42nd branch in Kyengera, the bank’s acting managing director, Mr P.K Gupta said about Shs825billion has been spent on opening branches all over the country.He said: “We believe in what we do and our focus is to offer services that are relevant to people where our branches are.” Read more ▪ Crane Bank Gets Sh96 Billion to Lend to Small Businesses Small and medium-sized firms can now access 'affordable' credit for expansion, thanks to a partnership between Crane bank and the European Investment Bank (EIB).The EIB released Euros 28m (Shs 94bn) to Crane bank for onward lending to local businesses. Addressing a press conference during the signing of the agreement at Crane bank head office in Kampala, the EIB vice president, Pim van Ballekom, said: "Small business investment is essential to unlock business opportunities and create new jobs. The new support builds on our strong track record of supporting private investments across East Africa in close cooperation with leading local financial partners like Crane bank."Under this credit line, companies will be able to apply for loans of up to Euro 3.5m (Shs 11.8bn). It will be open to both existing and new Crane bank customers. Ruparelia group Chairman Sudhir Ruparelia said the new lending leads to a total of Euro 43m extended to Crane bank. He added the past lending has helped create nearly 1,000 jobs in the manufacturing and tourism sectors. Read more ▪  Shilling weakens on dividend flows The Ugandan shilling weakened as foreign-owned commercial banks stocked up greenbacks in preparation to make dividend payments abroad, but a scheduled Treasury auction was seen limiting the local currency's losses.At 1127 GMT commercial banks quoted the currency of east Africa's third-largest economy at 2,570/2,580, weaker than close of 2,555/2,565."We've had a lot of (dollar) appetite from banks which I think is being driven by preparations for dividend payments," said Ali Abbas, trader at Crane Bank.Money market analysts say the local currency's medium-term outlook is weak, undermined by concerns over the potential economic impact of aid cuts by western donors. Read more ▪ Ugandans will have an opportunity to own Crane Bank after an announcement by the financial institution that the management is looking to list on the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE).According to the bank’s Managing Director, Mr A R Kalan, management is looking to fulfill this plan.“We are listing. And, we will be (trading) on the Uganda Securities Exchange,” Mr Kalan told journalists while opening the bank’s 40th branch in Ibanda, Western Uganda.There are currently 18 companies at the USE, with Uchumi being the latest entrant to crosslist on the stock market. In an interview with the Capital Markets Authority Chief Executive Officer, Keith Kalyegira, it emerged that should Crane Bank go ahead to fulfill its promise, it will be one of the few indigenous private companies to list without previous connection to government. Read more ▪ Kampala- Crane Bank, in partnership with Technology Associates (TA) has launched the first universal banking software system which will provide a much more user friendly experience for customers.The new system will use bio-metric identification which in effect will do away with signatures when one wants to access their accounts.Read more ▪  Crane bank has signed up to a new software system, Temenos T24, which aims to bolster its service delivery and security applications.Officials from the bank and Temenos Group AG said the software would be installed into Crane bank's branch network in Uganda and Rwanda over the next 11 months. Read more ▪   MTN launches mobile money ATM cash out service MTN Uganda and Crane Bank have launched a Mobile Money ATM cash out service.In the first ot is kind partnership with one of the largest indigenous banks, the MTN Mobile Money cash out service allows MTN customers to withdraw money from Crane Bank’s ATMs using their phone. ▪ |