FBC Holdings Limited has terminated negotiations involving restructuring of the group, an official has said. The negotiations are heavily linked to the planned disposal of its stake in Turnall Holdings Limited for which reports last year suggested that some Russians in partnership with the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation had bid US$35 million for a 59 percent stake.

"The board of directors of FBC Holdings Limited would like to advise shareholders that the group has terminated negotiations with a third party involving the restructuring of the group," company secretary Mr Tichaona Mabeza said in a statement.

FBC Holdings is believed to now have turned its focus to merging its commercial banking and the building society as it intensifies efforts to meet the revised Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe minimum capital requirements.

The RBZ last year raised the minimum capital thresholds for banking institutions by up to 900 percent as the central bank sought to stabilise the financial system.

Capital levels for building societies were raised from US$10 million to US$80 million, finance and discount houses from US$7.5 million to US$60 million and US$1 million to US$5 million for micro-finance houses.

Commercial banks are required to have minimum capital of US$100 million, up from US$12, 5 million by June 2014.

Brokerage and advisory firm IH Securities in its forecast for 2013 said mergers were expected to take centre stage as banks struggled to meet the revised capital requirements.

RBZ Governor Dr Gideon Gono announced last week that 14 out of the 24 banking institutions had met the December 31 threshold.

Dr Gono said some undercapitalised banks had made "significant progress towards compliance" while others had submitted recapitalisation plans which needed some adjustments.

Banks still to raise the required capital include Agribank, ZB Building Society, Capital Bank and ZABG now Allied Bank.

New Ziana