CBN Fines Access, Zenith Bank, Three Others N312m

FOR contravening the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act last year, tThe Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has fined five banks N312 million.

The banks are GT Bank, Zenith Bank, First City Monument Bank (FCMB), Access Bank and Sterling Bank.

Of the five affected banks, Access Bank paid the highest fine for various contraventions in the period under review.

A breakdown of the figure as contained in the banks’ annual reports showed that Access Bank paid N184 million for various contravention.

Access Bank was fined N184 million for not obtaining approval from CBN for the additions to investment in property of N5.15 billion, non-compliance to implementation of the recommendations of a financial services provider, PricewaterhouseCoopers.

It was also fined for contravening the CBN’s foreign exchange manual and weaknesses noted in internal control and know your customer procedures.

A further breakdown of the fine, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), indicated that Access Bank contravened the minimum documentation in the credit file and reporting of public sector deposit in line with CBN guidelines.

Sterling Bank followed by paying N50 million for under reporting of public sector deposits as at August 29, 2014.

Zenith Bank was fined N48 million for non disclosure of date of last lodgment on credit print out, appointment of a deputy general manager and incomplete reporting of all transactions of politically-exposed persons.

It was also fined for incomplete reporting of international funds transfer, incomplete reporting of some currency transactions and misclassification of some public sector deposit among others.

GT Bank paid N24 million as fine for the appointment of top management without CBN’s approval and infraction arising from anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism spot checks among others.

The FCMB Group was penalised N6 million for not implementing the prior year’s external auditors recommendations, incorrect returns to CBN and failure to comply with ATM operation standards.

Sunny Nwosu, National Coordinator, Independent Shareholders Association, expressed concern about the various amount paid by banks for contraventions in 2014.

Nwosu said the amount would have translated to higher dividend for shareholders, noting that banks should be very careful and avoid wastage of shareholders’ funds.

“If we have a very punitive regulator, we should learn how to manage them,” he told NAN in Lagos.

Nwosu said the board and management of the banks should bear the cost because of their negligence and not the shareholders.