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Union Trust Bank (UTB) has officially ceased operations, with Rokel Commercial Bank (RCB) completing its acquisition of the struggling indigenous bank on June 17, 2026.
The Bank of Sierra Leone (BSL) announced the takeover during a staff meeting on June 16, with Deputy Governor for Financial Stability Alfred W. B. Samah informing employees that UTB would cease to exist effective that day . RCB will assume control of UTB’s operations starting June 17.
The central bank’s decision follows years of regulatory intervention, with Samah revealing that Union Trust Bank had been unable to meet capital requirements since 2018.
“The state of Union Trust Bank today is so poor that one could meaningfully argue that it should be handed over to a liquidator,” Samah told staff. He disclosed that the bank’s net worth had deteriorated to approximately negative Le515 million and projected obligations had reached Le270 billion up to 2027.
“If you sold everything that Union Trust Bank owned and added all the proceeds together, there still would not be enough money to pay all customers their deposits,” he stated.
The central bank had requested capital restoration plans on multiple occasions, but retained earnings became negative and the bank’s financial position deteriorated significantly. Development partners including the IMF and World Bank shared concerns about UTB’s financial health, with the World Bank funding an assessment in 2024 that produced “not encouraging” findings.
The decision represents a resolution action rather than liquidation, Samah clarified. “Resolution is not liquidation. Resolution is a process whereby, when the financial condition of a financial institution becomes severely impaired, the Central Bank intervenes, takes control of the institution, and seeks to restore stability without causing disruption to the financial system.”
The central bank had placed UTB under caretaker management in early December 2025, shortly after the passing of the bank’s founder, Dr. James Sanpha Koroma. Dr. Koroma, a former Bank of Sierra Leone Governor, established UTB in 1995 as Sierra Leone’s first indigenous commercial bank.
Union Trust Bank shareholders are calling for justice and transparency regarding what they describe as a “criminal takeover.” The shareholders maintain that within one week of the central bank’s intervention, they secured the required capital through a Sierra Leonean business investor and submitted relevant documentation to the Bank of Sierra Leone in December 2025.
However, they state that no formal acknowledgment or substantive response has been received from the central bank, with more than six months having passed without resolution.
The owners have sought legal redress through the courts but remain concerned about the lack of progress in proceedings.
Meanwhile, internal memoranda indicate that RCB staff will be deployed across all UTB branches. A joint cash count exercise will be undertaken, with branch heads instructed to hand over vault keys to RCB team leads witnessed by Bank of Sierra Leone staff.
Staff have also been directed to wear Rokel Commercial Bank dress code from June 17, with female staff to wear white blouses with navy blue suits and male staff to wear white shirts with navy blue or black ties.
The central bank has maintained that no staff member has been disadvantaged during the process, with employees continuing to receive full salary, leave benefits, rent allowances, and other approved benefits.
