'What we have today is that the central bank is not likely to support a foreign bank owning more than 10 per cent of a top tier Nigerian bank. That is something that in my view needs to be looked at again,' Mr Sanusi said.

He said the ban was not a legal requirement but a policy of the previous leadership of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

'If as governor of central bank I am okay to have a bank owned by nominees and I don't know who owns them, why wouldn't I be comfortable with a bank owned by Barclays, or HSBC or China Construction Bank, who I know?' he added.

'For me it's a no-brainer.' -- AFP