Heritage Bank Lauds Auditors for Deepening Banking Public Confidence

By Adedapo Adesanya The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to strengthen its banking supervision to prevent some crucial Nigerian banks from failing due to its planned recapitalisation. Last Friday, the Governor of CBN, Mr Olayemi Cardoso, said the CBN would be directing banks to increase their capital base to serve a $1 trillion economy to be achieved by 2030. In a statement signed by Mrs Chinyere Almona, the director general of LCCI, the chamber said, “On recapitalisation of banks, we commend the plan of the apex bank to review the

By Adedapo Adesanya One of Africa’s biggest financial institutions, Access Bank, is close to finalizing a regulatory process to launch its first full banking service in Asia in the first quarter of 2024. This was disclosed by the chief executive of its holding company, Mr Herbert Wigwe, on the sidelines of the Africa Financial Industry Summit in Lomé, Togo, as per Semafor. The Nigerian lender’s plan to enter the Asian market is part of a wider global expansion target which includes a strategy to expand more deeply into Francophone Africa, build closer ties with North Africa, and across Europe where

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of Coronation Merchant Bank (CMB) has been downgraded by Fitch Ratings to ‘CC’ from ‘B-‘, with its Viability Rating (VR) also lowered to ‘cc’ from ‘b-‘. In a note released on Monday, the rating agency said it also demoted the bank’s National Long-Term Rating to ‘B+(nga)’ from ‘BBB-(nga)’, raising some red flags that prompted its latest decision. According to Fitch, CMB was moved down in the pecking order due to a “significantly weakened capital position”, which if not quickly addressed, “could lead to a material capital shortfall.” Already, the financial institution

Sterling Bank Limited’s cutting-edge investment platform, Doubble, has been upgraded with new features aimed at improving investment returns for existing and new customers. With various flexible naira and dollar investment options, including money market offerings with returns higher than your bank’s returns on savings. The digital savings and investment platform provides a seamless avenue for individuals to build wealth. Users are provided with a guaranteed income stream and fixed growth over a set period, as well as a hedge against market volatility, the ability to secure loans against account balances, and the convenience of transferring the annuity to a spouse

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Federal Government has disclosed that an American billionaire has offered to cater for education of the 21 Chibok girls recently released by Boko Haram. Speaking during a chat with State House correspondents in Abuja, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu, also said the same man has agreed to extend similar gesture to the remaining girls still in the terrorists’ den. However, the presidential spokesman noted that the 21 Chibok girls were being treated as adoptees of the Federal Government. “A black American billionaire, Mr Robert Smith, who is currently

By Dipo Olowookere Many Nigerians, who have been made to undergo untold hardship because of ‘crazy bills’ dished out to them by power companies, may soon heave a sigh of relief. This is because the House of Representatives has passed a bill to prohibit and criminalise estimated billing in the country by electricity distribution companies fondly called DisCos. The bill was sponsored by the Majority Leader and lawmaker from Lagos State, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila. At the plenary on Tuesday, the bill passed the third reading after the House adopted a report submitted by a committee set up by the green

By Modupe Gbadeyanka An approval has been given to the board of Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc to carry out its proposed rights issue aimed at boosting the company’s operations. The insurance firm is planning to raise the sum of N2.09 billion from its existing shareholders through a rights issue. Some days ago, the company’s management wrote an application to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) seeking its nod for the exercise. Over the weekend, Business Post confirmed that the management of the local stock exchange has given its approval to Sovereign Trust Insurance to raise the fresh capital. The approval was

By Adedapo Adesanya Oil prices were able to hold a bullish position on Tuesday as investors banked on hopes that Congress would approve the $2,000 stimulus checks in the United States. The bill to increase stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000 could be scheduled for another vote in the Senate at a later date this week. The US House on Monday passed the bill that would increase covid stimulus payments from $600 to $2,000 by 275-134 vote, needing a two-thirds majority to pass the bill now heads to the US Senate. President Trump has now signed the $2.3 trillion coronavirus

Following a successful series of Verve Life 5.0 satellite events organised across the country, where fitness enthusiasts were treated to invigorating exercises, music and entertainment by renowned fitness experts and dance instructors; Africa’s leading payment technology and card brand, Verve, is set to hold the final leg of its Verve Life 5.0 fitness and wellness events. The events are slated to hold at the National Stadium in Surulere, Lagos on October 29, 2022, with the grand finale holding on November 5, 2022, at Landmark Event Centre, Victoria Island. The firm also announced that for the first time since the inception

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Substandard galvanized roofing sheets and aluminum coils worth about N500 million were recently confiscated by officials of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) in Owerri and Okigwe areas of Imo State. This was part of the agency’s onslaught on the sale and manufacture of substandard roofing sheets in the country. It was gathered that the galvanized roofing sheets apprehended in Owerri gauged 0.125mm and 0.126mm respectively as against 0.15mm minimum value prescribed in the Nigeria Industrial Standard (NIS). Similarly, at Okigwe, the impounded aluminum coils used for the manufacturing of galvanized roofing sheets showed a non-conformance of

By Dipo Olowookere South Korean technology giant, Samsung Electronics, has disclosed it is considering dividing the company into two separate corporate entities. This followed calls from some investors supporting the split of the company into a holding unit and an operating part to boost shareholder value. With the split, the cross-shareholding would affect only the holding company while the operating unit could be assed separately, making it a lot easier to arrive at a clean company evaluation. According to Samsung, it would bring in external advisors to conduct a thorough review of the optimal corporate structure before the eventual split.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The parent company of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, Standard Bank Group, has commenced the 10th Africa Investors Conference. The conference, taking place virtually, started on Monday, June 22, 2020 and will run till June 26, 2020. It is hosted against the backdrop of an uncertain environment as the COVID-19 pandemic and national lockdowns remain very much to the fore. A statement stated issued by the organisers said the event is taking place online this year in line with current world trends. It is expected to enable African corporate clients and leading policymakers to connect virtually with some