No Plan to Withdraw Licences of Unity Bank, Others—CBN

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) refuted reports that it plans to revoke the operational licences of Unity Bank, Keystone Bank and Polaris Bank.

There were reports that the banking sector watchdog intends to withdraw the licences of the three financial institutions after it stopped Heritage Bank from carrying out financial services in the country.

On Monday, the central bank announced the withdrawal of Heritage Bank’s licence because of persistent breaches of Section 12(1) of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020.

The apex bank had said in a circular yesterday that the board and management of Heritage Bank “have not been able to improve the bank’s financial performance, a situation which constitutes a threat to financial stability.”

The action of the CBN sparked speculations that Unity Bank, Keystone Bank, and Polaris Bank might be the next to get the sledgehammer because of their books.

But in a post, CBN denied planning to take such an action of the trio, discrediting a notice purporting such.

“The content is fake and not from the CBN,” it stated.