Metropolitan and Allied Bank has now satisfied the Central Bank’s 70 billion cedis minimum capital requirement. Sources at the Central Bank confirmed to Joy News that the bank has indeed met the minimum capital requirement and therefore will continue to operate with the other 21 banks. Metropolitan and Allied Bank thus becomes the last bank to meet the Central Bank’s directive that gave all major banks a 31st December, 2006 deadline to satisfy the requirement or risk losing their licenses. Bank sources say the money was raised through an additional contribution by the majority shareholder, Business Focus Capital, a Malaysian firm. In neighbouring Nigeria, a number of banks had to merge with other banks in order to meet a similar requirement, however all 22 banks operating in Ghana have met the minimum capital requirement individually.