Banking
Diamond Bank’s Solvency Crisis Will Further Worsen—Moody’s Warns
**Downgrades Bank’s Ratings
By Dipo Olowookere
The baseline credit assessment (BCA) and adjusted BCA of Diamond Bank Plc have been downgraded from caa3 from caa1 by Moody’s Investors Service.
In a statement obtained by Business Post, the foremost global rating agency explained that the action was as a result the Nigerian lender’s weakened solvency, governance tensions and foreign currency liquidity challenges.
“In Moody’s view, the bank will face a further deterioration of its solvency that will likely undermine investor confidence and make foreign currency funding increasingly costly and difficult to access, or the bank will receive external capital support from either existing or new shareholders, or from the government, boosting its solvency and addressing its foreign currency vulnerability,” the statement said.
On the downgrading of the ratings, the statement noted that, “The primary driver for the two-notch downgrade of Diamond Bank’s BCA to caa3 is Moody’s view that the lack of progress in resolving NPLs adds pressure on its already weak solvency profile,” the statement said.
Also, the rating firm downgraded Diamond Bank’s long-term local currency and foreign currency deposit ratings to Caa1 from B3.
The rating agency placed the deposit and other senior ratings and assessments on review with direction uncertain.
Diamond Bank’s Not Prime (NP) short-term local and foreign currency deposits and counterparty ratings and NP(cr) short-term counterparty risk assessments have been affirmed, Moody’s said.
“Moody’s action follows the departure of Diamond Bank’s chairman of the board and three other non-executive board members, and the subsequent announcement of the bank’s third quarter financial results which showed a lack of progress in reducing problematic exposures, in contrast with the improvements that the rating agency had expected.
“The downgrade reflects Diamond Bank’s (1) weak solvency that is characterised by low provisions set aside for its high level of non-performing loans (NPLs) that outsize its tangible common equity (TCE), (2) corporate governance tensions that will likely divert management’s focus from resolving NPLs and could potentially undermine investor confidence, and (3) vulnerable foreign currency repayment obligations in 2019,” the statement said.
It further said the placement of the ratings on review reflects potential for diverging outcomes for Diamond Bank.
Moody’s said its previous assignment of a positive outlook on Diamond Bank’s deposit ratings in June 2018 had been based on expectations of substantial NPL reduction in the following 12 months; however, Moody’s said it now expects NPLs and provisioning needs to remain high.
Diamond Bank’s NPLs ratio stood at about 40 percent of gross loans as of September 2018 from 42 percent at year-end 2017, and only about 20 percent of the NPL stock is covered by provisions. Moody’s estimates that the provisioning requirements currently outsize the bank’s TCE.
“A second driver for the downgrade is the weakened corporate governance of the bank, following the recent unexpected departure of the bank’s chairman and three members of the board of directors. This development reveals tensions that the rating agency expects will delay the resolution of the bank’s large portfolio of NPLs and could potentially undermine investor confidence in the ability of the bank’s management to turn around Diamond Bank’s financial performance.”
A third related factor for the downgrade is Diamond Bank’s vulnerable foreign currency funding profile. The rating agency views the risk that the weak solvency and corporate governance tension may erode customer and depositor confidence, further impairing the bank’s financial performance and negatively affecting Diamond Bank’s funding profile.
“The bank will face significant refinancing needs in the first half of 2019, including a $200 million Eurobond maturing in May 2019.
“Diamond Bank’s liquid foreign currency assets at year-end 2017 amounts to about 25 percent of the debt and borrowings that are maturing in 2019, and the bank is currently looking at various market options to meet its foreign currency funding needs,” the rating firm said.
Moody’s said counterbalancing the aforementioned negative factors, it believes there is a high probability of government support for Diamond Bank, in case of need, reflecting the bank’s designation as a Domestic Systemically Important Bank in Nigeria and its large retail client base of about 10 million clients.
“Diamond Bank’s Caa1 long term deposit and issuer ratings benefit from a two notch support uplift from the bank’s BCA of caa3,” it said.
It said the review on Diamond Bank’s Caa1 deposit ratings will focus on the lender’s ability to address its solvency and foreign currency challenges.
The rating agency said it will assess the likelihood of some of the lenders converting their convertible debt to equity, or the bank raising new capital externally through other means, including any possible takeover.
In addition, Moody’s said it will assess any financing structures and plans that Diamond Bank will put in place in order to boost its foreign currency liquidity, balanced against any deterioration of its foreign currency resources, including any foreign currency deposit outflows.
“During the review period, Moody’s will also monitor steps taken by the bank’s shareholders to strengthen corporate governance, including the potential for Diamond Bank to appoint non-executive and independent directors that will meet the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) approval,” it ended.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
In 2025, Access Holdings Plc lowered its operational emissions by 28.47 per cent by growing its green asset portfolio to N92.15 billion, though still far from its N475 billion target.
Details of its 2025 Sustainability Report showed that operational emissions fell to 49,352 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent from 57,176 tonnes in 2024, supported primarily by branch solarisation across 263 locations and the deployment of 323 solar-powered ATMs, largely across Access Bank in Nigeria.
The organisation applies the operational-control approach under the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, accounting for emissions across its African footprint, with Access Bank representing the largest share.
The report reinforces its strategic shift from scale to value by showing how sustainability is being embedded in capital allocation, risk management, product development and operations.
During the year, Access Holdings deployed N72.3 billion under its Sustainable Finance Framework to eligible environmentally beneficial projects and grew its cumulative sustainability-focused loan book to $1.269 billion.
Beyond environmental outcomes, the report highlights the group’s contribution to inclusive economic participation.
In 2025, Access Holdings extended access to finance to 2,528,117 low-income individuals and onboarded 78,438 new MSMEs onto its financing platform.
Across the institution, 2.8 billion transactions were processed during the year, underscoring its role as core financial infrastructure for Africa’s real
economy. Gender-lens lending also progressed, with 354,156 loans extended to women and women-owned businesses, totalling N67.4 billion, equivalent to 24 per cent of the relevant loan portfolio.
Its Corporate Social Investment programmes reached 2,439,480 beneficiaries across education, health, entrepreneurship and the environment, delivered with partners, including UNICEF, HACEY Health Initiative and the Kenya Forest Service.
Employees recorded 359,500 volunteer hours with 100 per cent participation, while more than 50,000 trees were planted. The group notes that 2025 community figures follow a board-mandated tightening of its impact-measurement methodology and are not directly comparable with prior years. Women represent 49 per cent of the workforce, and the Access Holdings board comprised nine directors with 44.4 per cent female representation. Employee satisfaction rose to 87 per cent against an 80 per cent target, while attrition eased from about 13 per cent to about 11 per cent.
For the second straight year, Access Holdings reported zero material regulatory penalties relating to sustainability and zero cybersecurity breaches.
It mobilised $185.38 million, equivalent to N266.83 billion, in concessional funding from development finance institutions during the year and allocated a sustainability budget of N4.8 billion from profit before tax.
Sales-facing staff in the banking subsidiary carry green-portfolio targets within their individual performance measures, linking strategic sustainability goals to day-to-day execution across governance, strategy, risk management, capital allocation, products and operations.
To strengthen credibility and comparability, the report was prepared using the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards, specifically IFRS S1 and IFRS S2, as the primary framework, with the GRI Standards (2021) and the SASB Standards applied as complementary references.
“Our 2025 Sustainability Report reflects the discipline with which we are converting scale into value. We reduced operational emissions by 28.47 per cent,
grew our green asset portfolio to N92.14 billion and extended financial access to about 2.5 million low-income individuals.
“These outcomes show that sustainability is not separate from our business; it is central to how we create value, manage risk and support inclusive growth across Africa,” the chief executive of Access Holdings, Mr Innocent Ike, stated.
Looking ahead, the company promised to deepen the measurable impact of its sustainability agenda, accelerate the transition of its portfolio towards low-carbon and climate-resilient assets, and grow the green asset portfolio towards the N475 billion target.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) says it has paid the insured deposits of about 700,000 customers of the defunct Heritage Bank and has commenced the reimbursement of depositors of 46 microfinance banks (MFBs) whose operating licences were recently revoked by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The chief executive of NDIC, Mr Oludare Sunday, made this known on Wednesday during a retreat for members of the House of Representatives Committee on Insurance and Actuarial Matters in Lagos.
He said the corporation immediately began settling the insured deposits of customers after the CBN revoked the licences of the 46 microfinance banks and appointed the NDIC as their provisional liquidator.
“We are working on those. The CBN revoked the licences, and we were appointed as the provisional liquidator. We have started paying depositors of those banks, and gradually we intend to cover all the insured depositors,” he said.
Mr Sunday explained that the NDIC’s responsibility extends beyond paying insured deposits to recovering outstanding loans owed to the failed institutions and disposing of their assets to generate funds for the settlement of uninsured depositors.
“Our function as liquidator involves the payment of guaranteed sums. Thereafter, we go after those who owe the institutions and have not paid. We also ensure that we sell the available assets and realise their investments towards paying the uninsured portion of the deposits. So, we have started paying the guaranteed deposits. What we are doing now is also realising the assets of those institutions,” he stated.
Although he declined to disclose the exact number of depositors of the failed microfinance banks who had been reimbursed, Sunday said the Corporation was working with the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) to identify depositors through their Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) to ensure seamless payments.
“So, the more accounts we discover, the more payments we make,” he added.
Providing an update on the liquidation of Heritage Bank, the NDIC chief said about 700,000 depositors had already received their insured deposits, while efforts were ongoing to trace other customers whose identities could not be verified from available records.
He attributed the challenge to legacy accounts created before the introduction of the BVN system, as well as incomplete customer records inherited from banks that were later merged into Heritage Bank.
“If you know Heritage Bank, you know it is an amalgamation of several banks, including the acquisition of Enterprise Bank in 2014. So, if you think of banks like Guardian Express and Spring Bank, they are all part of Heritage Bank.
“There are depositors we have not been able to trace, and this is an opportunity for them to come forward. I am sure many of us did the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and may have left some money in an account, but there was no BVN then.
“Even the addresses we had were sometimes things like ‘opposite filling station.’ How do you trace such a person? Once they come forward, and for those we have been able to identify from the institution’s database, we have been paying them,” he explained.
Mr Sunday added that the Corporation would continue to recover outstanding loans and dispose of Heritage Bank’s assets to generate funds for the payment of liquidation dividends to depositors whose balances exceeded the insured limit.
Earlier in his remarks, he described the NDIC as a critical pillar of Nigeria’s financial safety net, stressing the need for stronger collaboration between regulators and the National Assembly as the banking sector responds to recapitalisation efforts and rapid financial technology developments.
According to him, while the ongoing banking recapitalisation programme has strengthened the resilience of financial institutions, it must be complemented by sound corporate governance, effective risk management, strict regulatory compliance and robust supervision to safeguard long-term financial system stability.
He also disclosed that more than 98 per cent of depositors, representing over 281 million accounts across insured financial institutions, are fully protected under the NDIC’s deposit insurance scheme.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Zenith Bank Plc is investigating an incident involving unauthorised access to customers’ data, noting that the breach does not involve financial information and has not compromised its banking services or digital channels.
In an email sent to customers on Wednesday, the bank stated that the incident was part of a broader global cyberattack affecting multiple international organisations across various sectors.
The lender stated that it immediately activated its incident response protocols and intensified its cybersecurity and remediation efforts upon discovering the incident.
“This incident is part of a broader, global cyber-attack targeting multiple international organisations across various sectors. Upon discovery, we promptly activated our incident response protocols, cybersecurity actions and remediation efforts,” the bank said.
The bank reassured customers that its banking services and digital channels remain secure and fully operational.
As a precautionary measure, Zenith Bank advised customers to remain alert to potential phishing attempts and other forms of social engineering.
“As a precaution, we encourage our customers to remain vigilant against phishing emails, text messages, or phone calls, and never to disclose their password, PIN, One-Time Password (OTP), or other security credentials to anyone,” the bank said.
The incident is the latest in a series of cybersecurity challenges facing Nigerian financial institutions, with banks in recent months suspending their social media operations over impersonation and other fraudulent activities.
Earlier in April, the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) said it was investigating alleged data breaches involving Sterling Bank, Remita and the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
Nigerian banks have long been prime targets for cybercriminals because of the vast amounts of customer data and financial transactions they handle every day.
While many attacks have traditionally sought to steal funds, cybercriminals are increasingly targeting personal information, which can be used for identity theft, phishing schemes, account takeovers and other forms of financial fraud.
Cybersecurity threats have increasingly targeted Nigerian banks in recent years. In 2025, Union Bank of Nigeria warned customers about fraudulent websites and phishing campaigns designed to steal login credentials and personal information by impersonating the bank.
In August 2024, Guaranty Trust Bank experienced a domain-related security incident that temporarily disrupted access to its official website, although the lender assured customers that their deposits and banking services remained secure while it resolved the issue.
