NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's Stanbic Bank and CFC Bank said on Thursday they had begun operations as a joint entity after clearing legal hurdles that had delayed their merger. Stanbic Bank, owned by South Africa's Standard Bank, has acquired a 60 percent shareholding in the new company, called CFC/Stanbic Holdings. "Standard Bank Group has sold its Kenyan operation, Stanbic Bank Kenya Ltd, to Nairobi Stock Exchange listed CFC Bank Limited," the bank said in a statement. The merger makes CFC/Stanbic's banking operations the fourth largest in Kenya by assets, the statement said. Kenya's High Court ordered Stanbic Kenya to deposit 200 million shillings as security until the resolution of a lawsuit by a former customer. The bank also deposited another 532 million shillings for a separate case brought against it by 15 former Stanbic employees. No date has been set for the two cases. "We are very pleased that we can now proceed with integration of the existing operations under one team," said Mike du Toit, managing director CFC/Stanbic. | 
