Economy
SEC, CBN Fine 5 Banks for Market Violations
By Leadership
Five commercial banks operating in Nigeria have been sanctions by the apex financial sector regulating bodies in Nigeria, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Leadership newspaper is reporting.
The banks were fined N213.7 million between January and June 2017 over 26 market infractions.
The sanctions vary from commercial banks failure to detect single Biometric Verification Number (BVN) wrongly linked to accounts owned by different individuals, late rendition of Returns to CBN, failure to comply with CBN’s Know-Your–Customers (KYC) requirement, among others.
Of the five commercial banks, two leading banks in the country were severely sanctioned by CBN with a total sum of N100 million for failing to detect single BVN wrongly linked to accounts owned by different individuals.
LEADERSHIP can exclusively report that commercial banks often contravene regulating bodies requirement, knowing that the sanctions imposed are minimal from profit generated.
Findings revealed that Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc incurred the highest market infractions, a total of 10 while Access Bank Plc has two market infractions.
Between January to June of 2017, Stanbic IBTC Holdings was sanctioned N40.7 million in 10 market infractions by CBN and SEC.
According to information obtained by LEADERSHIP, CBN imposed a penalty of N14 million on Stanbic IBTC Holdings over the bank’s failure to notify the CBN within 30 days of the re-deployment of staff.
Also, “SEC imposed a penalty of N4.51 million for the failure to obtain the approval of SEC to utilize the custodian function of the Bank and to hold securities owned by its clients in a nominee account and accept payment on behalf of its clients from individual issuers of securities in contravention of Rule 61(2a) of SEC Rules and Regulations.
“SEC observed violations of the Section 135 (1) & (2) of the Investment and Securities Act 2007 and imposed a penalty of N100,000.
“CBN imposed a penalty of N75,000 on the bank for the late rendition of its daily FINA returns for February 01, 2017, February 03, 2017 and February 13, 2017
“CBN imposed a penalty of N10 million on the Bank for the following breaches: (a) Deployment of an offsite Automated Teller Machines (ATM) without CBN approval- E-business; (b) The returns for ATM cards sent to CBN on FINA were different from the returns provided for the examiners review at the bank- E-business; (c) Not fully complying with Section 3.8 of the Prudential Guidelines as it relates to the information requirement of the Credit print out-Credit; (d) CBN declined the clearance of a staff member who had been blacklisted, the staff member was still in the employment of the bank as at the time of the examination.
“CBN imposed a penalty of N2 million for contravening the CBN circular which is in respect to the repatriation of exports proceeds.
“CBN imposed a penalty of N4 million for the following breaches: (a) Late reporting of 29 suspicious transactions in a timely manner to the relevant authorities; (b) Untimely reporting of Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) to the relevant authorities.
“A penalty was imposed by CBN for the untimely rendition of the daily returns (FINA) for the period of 17 – 31 March, 17 – 31 May, 2017 – N50,000.
“CBN imposed a penalty of N4million for consummating a transaction of N16.35 billion without obtaining CBN approval and for contravening CBN circular.”
Fidelity Bank Plc was sanctioned N57.9 million for six market infractions.
The bank was sanctioned N40 million by CBN for multiple Account to a BVN and N10million for untimely & Non rendition of STRS.
Also, CBN imposed a fine of N4 million and N2 million in respect of KYC Non-Compliance while SEC imposed a fine of N1.2 million for Late Submission of Annual Financial Report.
In addition, Fidelity bank paid N700, 000 for Late Payment and Account default Of Bank A/Acct 2016 financial year.
However, United Bank for Africa Plc was penalized N40 million for failing to detect single BVN wrongly linked to accounts owned by different individuals and N1 million for late rendering of returns on international cards.
The leading pan-African bank, was penalized N2 million for failing to promptly refund excess charges against the accounts of a customer and introduction of unauthorised monthly maintenance charges respectively.
Lately, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTBank) contravention four market infraction of the CBN, totalling N10.05 million in six months of 2017.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The United Arab Emirates has announced its decision to quit the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to focus on national interests.
This dealt a heavy blow to the oil-exporting group at a time when the US-Israel war on Iran had caused a historic energy shock and rattled the global economy.
The move, which will take effect on May 1, 2026, reflects “the UAE’s long-term strategic and economic vision and evolving energy profile”, a statement carried by state media said on Tuesday.
“During our time in the organisation, we made significant contributions and even greater sacrifices for the benefit of all,” it added. “However, the time has come to focus our efforts on what our national interest dictates.”
The loss of the UAE, a longstanding OPEC member, could create disarray and weaken the oil cartel, which has usually sought to show a united front despite internal disagreements over a range of issues from geopolitics to production quotas.
UAE Energy Minister Suhail Mohamed al-Mazrouei said the decision was taken after a careful look at the regional power’s energy strategies.
“This is a policy decision. It has been done after a careful look at current and future policies related to the level of production,” the minister said.
OPEC’s Gulf producers have already been struggling to ship exports through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow chokepoint between Iran and Oman through which a fifth of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas supplies normally pass, because of threats and attacks against vessels during the war.
The UAE had been a member of OPEC first through its emirate of Abu Dhabi in 1967 and later when it became its own country in 1971.
The oil cartel, based in Vienna, has seen some of its market power wane as the US has increased its production of crude oil in recent years.
Additionally, the UAE and Saudi Arabia have increasingly competed over economic issues and regional politics, particularly in the Red Sea area.
The two countries had joined a coalition to fight against Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis in 2015. However, that coalition broke down into recriminations in late December when Saudi Arabia bombed what it described as a weapons shipment bound for Yemeni separatists backed by the UAE.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc bested four price decliners on the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Monday, April 27. The alternative stock market opened the week bullish during the session with a 0.03 per cent uptick.
According to data, the security depository company added N2.61 to its share price to close at N76.26 per unit compared with the preceding session’s N78.87 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation of the platform increased by N820 million to N2.425 trillion from N2.424 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) gained 1.38 points to finish at 4,053.97 points compared with the 4,052.58 points it ended last Friday.
The four price losers were led by NASD Plc, which slumped by N3.80 to sell at N34.70 per share versus N38.50 per share. FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc fell by N1.45 to N98.10 per unit from N99.55 per unit, Food Concepts Plc slid by 27 Kobo to N2.43 per share from N2.70 per share, and Geo-Fluids Plc dipped by 9 Kobo to N2.91 per unit from N3.00 per unit.
The value of securities transacted by market participants went down by 82.0 per cent to N7.4 million from N41.3 million units, the volume of securities declined by 28.5 per cent to 319,831 units from 447,403 units, and the number of deals dropped by 34.1 per cent to 29 deals from 44 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.6 million units sold for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion.
Also, GNI Plc was the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units traded for N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with a turnover of 400 million units worth N1.2 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The first trading day of the week in the currency market was bearish for the Naira in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Monday, April 27.
Yesterday, it lost N5.80 or 0.43 per cent against the United States Dollar to trade at N1,364.24/$1, in contrast to the N1,358.44/$1 it was traded last Friday.
In the same vein, the Nigerian currency depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market by N13.70 to close at N1,847.72/£1 versus the preceding session’s N1,834.02/£1, and slumped against the Euro by N11.56 to sell at N1,602.29/€1 versus N1,590.73/€1.
Also, the Nigerian Naira tumbled against the greenback during the trading day by N5 to quote at N1,385/$1 compared with the previous rate of N1,380/$1, and at the GTBank FX desk, it traded flat at N1,370/$1.
The poor performance of the domestic currency could be attributed to liquidity shortage at the official currency market on Monday, which came amid surging demand for international payments. At $76.50 million, interbank liquidity printed higher across 79 deals, up from the $43.572 million reported on Friday.
Nigeria’s gross external reserves declined to $48.45 billion amid a month-long decline in inflows, amid uncertainties in the global commodity market. The depletion of foreign reserves could be partly attributed to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s intervention in the FX market.
The market remains perturbed by persistent concerns over liquidity constraints, policy transparency, and weakening confidence in Nigeria’s FX market, while boosters, including oil prices, continue to look rocky due to stalled discussions and unclear ceasefire negotiations between the US and Iran.
A look at the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin (BTC) has been rejected near $79,000 three times in eight sessions, leaving the level as the de facto ceiling of its current trading range even as major cryptocurrencies trade lower over the past day. It lost 0.9 per cent to sell at $77,003.61.
Analysts say that upcoming US Federal Reserve policy decisions and top tech firms’ earnings this week could provide the catalyst to push bitcoin decisively above $80,000.
The market also continued to weigh Iran’s interim deal proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which failed to advance over the weekend. The White House said US officials were discussing the latest Iranian proposal but maintained “red lines” on any deal to end the eight-week war.
Solana (SOL) dropped 1.8 per cent to $84.25, Ripple (XRP) went down by 1.6 per cent to $1.39, Ethereum (ETH) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $2,290.00, Binance Coin (BNB) declined by 0.5 per cent to $625.18, and Cardano (ADA) fell by 0.2 per cent to $0.2480.
However, Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 2.0 per cent to $0.1002, and TRON (TRX) appreciated by 0.2 per cent to $0.3242, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
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