KIST Bank and Vibor Bikas Bank have sought the letter of intent (LoI) from Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the banking sector regulator, to take the merger process between the two institutions to a logical end.

Once the LoI is extended, both the financial institutions will conduct due diligence audits, which will give detailed view of the financial health of both the institutions. “Once this is complete, both the institutions will have to file an application to obtain final approval for merger from the regulator,” the official said. KIST, a category ´A´ financial institution, and Vibor, a category ´B´ financial institution, had formally launched the merger process on March 21 by signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU).

The MoU was signed by Kamal Prasad Gyawali, managing director of KIST Bank, and Dr Roop Jyoti, vice chairman of Vibor Bikas Bank. Following this, a merger committee was formed, which is working on completing the consolidation process within the next five months. So far, both the institutions have obtained a green signal to initiate the merger process from all shareholders.