needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . september 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message first bank of nigeria type public industry finance founded 1894 as bank of british west africa 1979 renamed first bank of nigeria headquarters 35 marina lagos lagos state nigeria number of locations 790 branches 2012 key people mrs. ibukun awosika chairman urum kalu uk eke mfr group managing director fbn holdings dr. adesola adeduntan group managing director ceo gbenga francis shobo aca deputy managing director dauda lawal executive director public sector products financial services revenue pretax 542.5 million ngn 86.2 billion 2012 operating income n303 008 336 100 .67 net income n215 448 660 002 total assets n3 450 112 number of employees 7 616 website homepage first bank of nigeria sometimes referred to as firstbank is a nigerian multinational bank and financial services headquartered in lagos nigeria . it is the biggest bank in nigeria by total deposits and gross earnings and operates a network of over 750 business locations across africa the united kingdom and representative offices in abu dhabi beijing and johannesburg set up to capture trade related business between geographies . it majors in retail banking and has the largest retail client base in nigeria . in 2015 the asian banker awarded firstbank the best retail bank in nigeria award for the fifth consecutive year . the nigerian banking business operates nationally with an active customer base of over 10 million and employs over 7 000 staff . firstbank operates along four key strategic business units sbus retail banking corporate banking commercial banking and public sector banking . it was previously structured as an operating holding company before the implementation of a non operating holding company structure fbn holdings in 2011 2012 . contents 1 overview 2 subsidiaries 3 fbn holdings 4 history 4.1 pre independence 4.2 post independence 4.3 key milestones 5 leadership 6 see also 7 references 8 external links overview edit as of december 2015 update the bank had assets totalling ngn3 .9 trillion . the bank s profit before tax for the twelve months ending 31 december 2015 was approximately ngn10 .2 billion . firstbank s ownership is diversified with over 1.3 million shareholders . the bank was founded in 1894 and is nigeria s oldest bank . it converted to a public company in 1970 and was listed on the nse in 1971 . however as part of the implementation of the non operating holding company structure it was delisted from the stock exchange and replaced with fbn holdings plc. in 2012 . firstbank has been named the best bank brand in nigeria for five years in a row 2011 2012 2013 2014 and 2015 by the banker magazine of the financial times group and most innovative bank in africa in the emea finance african banking awards 2014 . subsidiaries edit the subsidiaries of first bank of nigeria include the following 1 fbn bank drc formerly banque international de credit bic kinshasa democratic republic of the congo 75 % shareholding is a subsidiary of first bank of nigeria limited and was until september 2014 called bic which was founded in april 1994 2 fbn bank china beijing china representative office fbn bank ghana accra ghana 100 % shareholding 3 fbn bank guinea conakry guinea 100 % shareholding fbn bank senegal dakar 100 % shareholding fbn bank sierra leone freetown sierra leone 100 % shareholding fbn bank south africa johannesburg south africa representative office fbn bank uae abu dhabi united arab emirates representative office fbn bank uk london united kingdom 100 % shareholding savings products sold under firstsave brand fbn bank uk paris paris france a branch of the subsidiary in the uk first pension custodian limited fbn mortgages limited fbn holdings edit in 2010 the central bank of nigeria revised the regulation covering the scope of banking activities for nigerian banks . the universal banking model was discontinued and banks were required to divest from non core banking businesses or adopt a holding company structure . firstbank opted to form a holding company fbn holdings plc. to capture synergies across its already established banking and non banking businesses . the new structure resulted in a stronger platform to support the group s future growth ambitions domestically and internationally . bello maccido who was executive director retail north of firstbank became the ceo of the new parent company . he retired effective from december 31 2015 and was succeeded by urum kalu eke former executive director south of firstbank as group managing director of the holding company . the shares of fbnholdings are listed on the nigerian stock exchange . the business groups of fbnholdings are commercial banking includes first bank of nigeria ltd and all its commercial banking subsidiaries fbnbank uk ltd with branch in paris france fbnbank drc fbnbank ghana fbnbank gambia fbnbank guinea fbnbank sierra leone fbnbank senegal first pension custodian limited fbn mortgages limited . fbnquest fbnquest is the brand name of the merchant banking and asset management businesses of fbn holdings plc which comprises fbn merchant bank limited fbn capital limited fbn securities limited fbn capital asset management limited fbn trustees limited fbn funds limited and fbn capital partners limited . insurance the insurance business covers our insurance related subsidiaries fbninsurance fbn general insurance and fbn insurance brokers . the business group offers life and general insurance services as well as insurance brokerage services . as at 31 december 2015 the group closed with gross earnings of n505 .2 billion total assets of n4 .2 trillion and n578 .8 billion in total equity . history edit pre independence edit firstbank commenced business in 1894 in what was then british colony of nigeria as the bank of british west africa . the bank originally served british shipping and trading agencies in nigeria . the founder alfred lewis jones was a shipping magnate who originally had a monopoly on importing silver currency into west africa through his elder dempster shipping company . according to its founder without a bank economies were reduced to using barter and a wide variety of mediums of exchange leading to unsound practices . a bank could provide a secure home for deposits and also a uniform medium of exchange . the bank primarily financed foreign trade but did little lending to indigenous nigerians who had little to offer as collateral for loans . post independence edit in 1957 bank of british west africa changed its name to bank of west africa bwa . after nigeria s independence in 1960 the bank began to extend more credit to indigenous nigerians . at the same time citizens began to trust british banks since there was an independent financial control mechanism and more citizens began to patronise the new bank of west africa . in 1965 standard bank acquired bank of west africa and changed its acquisition s name to standard bank of west africa . in 1969 standard bank of west africa incorporated its nigerian operations under the name standard bank of nigeria . in 1971 standard bank of nigeria listed its shares on the nigerian stock exchange and placed 13 % of its share capital with nigerian investors . after the end of the nigerian civil war nigeria s military government sought to increase local control of the retail banking sector . in response now standard chartered bank reduced its stake in standard bank nigeria to 38 % . once it had lost majority control standard chartered wished to signal that it was no longer responsible for the bank and the bank changed its name to first bank of nigeria limited in 1979 . by then the bank had re organized and had more nigerian directors than ever . in 1991 the bank changed its name to first bank of nigeria plc following listing on the nigerian stock exchange . in 2012 the bank changed its name again to first bank of nigeria limited as part of a restructuring resulting in fbn holdings plc fbnholdings having detached its commercial business from other businesses in the firstbank group in line with the requirements of the central bank of nigeria . firstbank had 1.3 million shareholders globally was quoted on the nigerian stock exchange nse where it was one of the most capitalised companies and also had an unlisted global depository receipt gdr programme all of which were transferred to its holding company fbn holdings in december 2012 . in 1982 firstbank opened a branch in london which it converted into a subsidiary fbn bank uk in 2002 . its most recent international expansion was the opening in 2004 of a representative office in johannesburg south africa . in 2005 it acquired fbn merchant bankers ltd. paribas and mbc international bank ltd a group of nigerian investors had founded mbc in 1982 as a merchant bank and it became a commercial bank in 2002 . in june 2009 stephen olabisi onasanya was appointed group managing director chief executive officer replacing sanusi lamido sanusi who had been appointed governor of the central bank of nigeria . onasanya was formerly executive director of banking operations & services . he retired on 31 december 2015 and dr. adesola adeduntan took over as managing director chief executive officer first bank of nigeria ltd and subsidiaries effective 1 january 2016 with gbenga shobo as deputy managing director . key milestones edit 1894 incorporated and headquartered in marina the heart of lagos nigeria west africa s commercial nerve centre and still there today . 1912 calabar branch the second branch in nigeria was opened by king jaja of opobo ; zaria branch was also opened as the first branch in northern nigeria . 1947 firstbank advanced the first long term loan to the then colonial government followed in 1955 by a partnership with the government to expand the railway lines . 1971 first listing on the nigerian stock exchange nse . 1991 first automated teller machine atm introduced at 35 marina as part of ease of convenience online real time banking . 1994 launched first university endowment programme in nigeria . 2002 established fbn uk regulated by the fsa the first nigerian bank to wholly own a full fledged bank in the uk . 2004 launched a new brand identity which introduced substantial changes in the look and feel of the firstbank brand . 2007 introduced the innovative finnone credit administration software as the first bank in africa to pioneer the service . 2011 launched the first biometric atm and cash deposit atm in nigeria . 2012 became a subsidiary group of fbn holdings plc. 2013 completed the acquisition of icb asset in guinea gambia sierra leone and ghana as part of an ongoing pan african expansion program . 2014 initiated at 120 years the launch of a new corporate identity . leadership edit chairman mrs. ibukun awosika managing director ceo dr. adesola adeduntan deputy managing director mr. olugbenga francis shobo executive director public sector group dauda lawal executive director corporate banking dr. remi oni independent non executive director dr. mrs. ijeoma e. jidenma independent non executive director mrs. olusola oworu non executive director lawal kankia ibrahim non executive director ambrose feese fca non executive director mr. ebenezer jolaoso non executive director obafemi adedamola otudeko non executive director tunde hassan odukale non executive director ibrahim dahiru waziri non executive director urum kalu eke mfr group managing director fbn holdings plc see also edit list of banks in nigeria economy of nigeria international commercial bank references edit subsidiaries of first bank of nigeria first bank of nigeria acquires congolese bank acquisition of icb takes first bank to four countries fbn bank acquires icb assets in four west african countries external links edit first bank of nigeria official site first bank of nigeria at alacrastore first bank of nigeria at bloomberg first bank of nigeria at nigerian stock