Morogoro. Tanzanian customers whose deposits were frozen following the closure of FBME Bank Limited will receive 100 percent of their money after the Deposit Insurance Board (DIB) launched the fourth and final phase of payments under the bank's liquidation.
Speaking at a press briefing in Morogoro on Friday, July 31, DIB Director General Isack Kihwili said the final payout had been made possible after the board recovered sufficient assets to settle the remaining 15 percent of verified claims owed to Tanzanian depositors.
He said the payments would conclude a nearly nine-year process of reimbursing local customers who held deposits in the bank before it was closed by the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) in 2017.
"Completion of this phase means Tanzanian customers who deposited their money with FBME Bank Limited will have been reimbursed 100 percent of their deposits," Mr Kihwili said.
He attributed the achievement to years of tracing, preserving and recovering the bank's assets under liquidation. He added that the Creditors' Committee approved the final payments during its meeting on July 29, 2026.
According to Mr Kihwili, when FBME Bank Limited was closed on May 8, 2017, there were 2,280 customers with deposits exceeding the then insured limit of Sh1.5 million.
Of these, 1,414 were Tanzanian customers with claims amounting to Sh35.23 billion, while 866 international customers holding accounts in the bank's Tanzania branch had claims exceeding Sh308.2 billion.
He said that by June 30, 2026, DIB had already paid 85 percent of Tanzanian customers' claims through three previous payment phases of 30 percent, 25 percent and 30 percent.
A total of 986 customers, representing 69.73 percent of all Tanzanian claimants, had received Sh26.02 billion out of Sh29.93 billion approved for payment during those phases.
However, 428 customers with claims worth Sh3.91 billion had not received their payments by June 30 because they had either failed to submit claims or had not completed the required documentation.
Mr Kihwili urged customers who had not yet come forward to visit DIB offices to complete the payment process.
He also called on relatives of deceased customers to submit probate and estate administration documents to facilitate payment of funds due to beneficiaries in accordance with the law.
He said there were other categories of creditors, including some former employees of various companies and claimants involved in court cases, whose payments would be processed once the relevant legal procedures had been completed.
Providing background, Mr Kihwili said FBME Bank Limited was closed by the Bank of Tanzania on May 8, 2017 and placed under liquidation after it was found to have breached conditions of its banking licence.
He said the closure followed action taken by US financial regulators over allegations of money laundering, which affected the bank's ability to participate in the international payment system using the US dollar.
As a result, BoT appointed DIB as liquidator under the Banking and Financial Institutions Act, 2006, to oversee the recovery of assets and settlement of creditors' claims.
Mr Kihwili said regulators in Cyprus also took action against the bank's branch there and that DIB continues to work with the liquidator of the Cyprus branch to recover remaining assets.
Following completion of payments to Tanzanian customers, DIB will proceed with payments to international customers who held accounts at the Tanzania branch, as well as other creditors, in accordance with the law.
Mr Kihwili thanked FBME customers for their patience throughout the liquidation process and commended the government for its support in facilitating the recovery exercise.
He also encouraged the public to continue depositing their money with banks and financial institutions licensed by the Bank of Tanzania, noting that deposits held in such institutions are protected under the country's deposit insurance scheme.
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