Over 100 GT Bank staff have resigned in recent months and more are set to leave.
Guaranty Trust Bank acquired Fina Bank in December 2013. A restructuring programme is likely to lead to the closure
of seven branches.
The managers have resigned after the new management set very high targets for new depositors, according to several insider sources.
The Central Bank of Kenya has tightened up on all banks in Kenya so that all deposits and loans fulfil Know-Your-Customer and collateral rules.
There have also been unconfirmed reports that IFMIS funds may have been transferred to GT Bank accounts in a similar fashion to the NYS funds that went to Family Bank.
Churchill Winston Ochieng, GT Bank's head of retail banking, quit recently and there is an ongoing court case on his resignation.
Micheal Obiero, head of operations and former head of service delivery, left to join I&M Bank Rwanda. Head of credit Beatrice Ndurya and IT manager Kenny Gonah have also resigned.
Former Fina Bank managing director and GT Bank's director for business support, Ramesh Kapoor, resigned last year.
Many junior staff, including tellers who were members of the Kenya Bankers Union, have been replaced by outsourced staff outsourced who are not on
GT Bank's employee payroll.
GT Bank's officer in charge of communications Anne Kabugi had not responded to the Star's request for comment by the time of going to press despite promising to do so. The CBK had also not responded.
GT Bank Group CEO for East Africa, Adekunle Bankole Sonol, and the group regional chief operating officer, Jude Olabayo Veracruz, have been spearheading the transformation. Veracruz has now moved to Rwanda.
Dhanu Hansraj Chandaria Chandaria has a 30 per cent shareholding in GT Bank and was the principal founder of Fina Bank where he served as chairman. Chandaria also owns Kenpoly, a manufacturer of plastic household equipment.
Fina is a medium-sized financial services provider, offering loans to individuals and organisations. It also has arms in Uganda and Rwanda with an estimated asset valuation of approximately $171 million (Sh17.3 billion).
Other directors include Nalinkumar Narshi Shah, Hanish Chandaria, Julius Olesugun Agbaje. Ademola Ayodeli Odeyemi, John Mark Wandolo and Mary Kimotho M'Mukindia.
According to the bank's financial report for 2013, advances to companies controlled by directors and their associates amounted to Sh108 million while advances to employees totalled Sh57 million.
Fina Bank began operations in 1986 as a non-financial company before being acquired by investors and converted into a commercial bank in 1996 after acquiring a license from the Central Bank of Kenya.
A Nigerian lender Guaranty Trust Bank acquired 70 per cent of Fina Bank's shareholding in July 2013 after putting in US$100 million (Sh10 billion).
Fina Bank Group subsequently rebranded to Guaranty Trust Bank East Africa.
