Sterling Capital commenced operations in January, 2006 as a re-branding of the investment banking capabilities and experience of the five legacy institutions that merged to form Sterling Bank, following the conclusion of the Banking Industry consolidation in Nigeria in December, 2005.  The Banks were NAL Bank Plc, Magnum Trust Bank Plc, Indo-Nigeria Bank Ltd, NBM Bank Ltd and Trust Bank of Africa Plc.  This implies that its presence in the Nigerian Capital Market precedes its legal existence.

Sterling Capital currently boasts of over 50 years of capital market experience and a rich investment banking antecedent, given that two of its legacy banks were strong investment banking institutions.  The former NAL Bank Plc was the pioneer merchant bank in Nigeria, which commenced banking operations in 1960 as Nigerian Acceptances Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of John Holt (Liverpool) Limited.  In July, 1969, NAL merged its operations with those of Financial Holdings (Nigeria) Limited, then trading under the name of Phillip Hills Nigeria Limited.

In November, 1969, NAL became the first Nigerian financial house to be granted a licence to operate as a merchant bank in the country. NAL was very instrumental in implementing the Indigenisation programme of the Federal Government in the early 70s and played a major role in the development of the Nigerian Capital Market.