Skye Bank Plc has floated a subsidiary in the Gambia following the granting of approval to the bank's request for a banking license by the Central Bank of Gambia at its meeting of July 3, 2009.

A statement signed by the bank's Head of Corporate Affairs, Kayode Akinyemi, said that Skye Bank (Gambia) Limited, has since begun operations as Skye Bank's second foreign subsidiary after the opening of Skye Bank (Sierra Leone) Limited.

The statement quotes Skye Bank's Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Akinsola Akinfemiwa, as saying that the opening of the Gambian subsidiary represented another milestone in the bank's quest at growing its business and expanding the reach of its ethical, professional and customer-driven financial services.

The statement further said that the Skye Bank boss stated that further expansion activities would take place in the future in line with the objective to establish the bank as a dominant player in the West African sub-region.

The bank opened its first foreign subsidiary in Sierra Leone, commencing operations on October 1,2008. The bank also plans to open foreign subsidiaries in other countries like Ghana in consonance with its focus of diversifying its business locations profitably with a view to creating value for its stakeholders.

As an incontrovertible evidence of Skye Bank Plc's climb to the pinnacle of the nation's financial system, a leading international publication recently rated it as one of the "most capitalised" and biggest 15 banks in Africa. The global publication- The Banker magazine-has confirmed what has been a popular observation in the nation's financial market.

It has a diversified portfolio of holdings in successful subsidiaries spanning financial services, insurance, stock broking, capital market, trusteeship, mortgage and information technology.