Sterling Bank Plc, which is a full service national commercial bank is licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria. Its shares trade under the Banking sector of the Nigerian Stock Exchange with the symbol STERLNBANK. On Reuters and Bloomberg terminals, it is identified as STERLNB.LG and STERLNBA:NL respectively. The bank provides services to individuals, small businesses (SMEs) and large corporations. As of December 2019, the bank's branch network numbered 161. distributed throughout Nigeria with total assets valued in excess of NGN 1 trillion and shareholders' equity estimated at about NGN 119.8 billion).Sterling Bank Plc originally incorporated in 1960 as Nigeria Acceptances Limited (NAL). The bank was licensed as Nigeria's first merchant bank in 1969. Consequent to the indigenization decree of 1972, the Bank became fully government owned and was managed in partnership with Grindlays Bank Limited, Continental International Finance Company Illinois and American Express Bank Limited b