Forex/Other Infractions: CBN Hits UBA, Fidelity, Access , GTB, FCMB with N1.4bn Penalties
US DOLLAR BUNDLES
Facts have emerged on how five commercial banks were fined the sum of N1.4bn over contraventions of guidelines for commercial banks in the country.
Among the banks which paid the penalties as demanded by the Central Bank of Nigeria, Security Exchange Council and Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria were the United Bank of Africa, Fidelity Bank, Access Bank, Guarantee Trust Bank and First City Monument Bank.
According to a report by Punch Newspapers, the figure was arrived at from analysis of the H1 2021 financial statements of the banks obtained from their websites.
Punch reports that the “penalties were as a result of contraventions and infractions of guidelines instituted by the Federal Government through the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, relevant CBN circulars and other regulatory requirements”.
The report showed that GTB was fined the sum of “N692m as penalties to regulators for two major infractions bordering on foreign exchange transactions carried out by Betting and Gaming Companies (N690m) and non-refund of interest on debit of non-interest related charges to non-funded accounts (N2m)”.
Fidelity Bank was also fined the sum of N64.1m for forex trade infractions and other forex infractions, risk based supervision between 2018 and 2019 and late returns.
The report also added that the Bank was equally sanctioned within the review period to the tune of N1.1m for late filling of its December 31 2020 Audited Financial Statement.
“The total sum paid for infractions by Fidelity bank is H1 2021 was N349.3m lower than the aggregate sum of N414.5m paid as penalties in H1 2020”, the report said.
Access Bank also paid a penalty of N184.5m by the CBN while SEC fined the bank N1m during the review period for forex violations committed by the bank
According to the Punch report, violations committed by the bank include, “contravening the Central Bank’s Foreign Exchange Regulations from January 1, 2013 to July 31, 2020, contravention of rule for receiving bank, a shareholder’s complaint on dividend, CBN’s Consumer Protection report for the period of Jul 2020- Dec 2020, failure to comply with the CBN’s money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism regulations and Know Your Customer policies in respect of a customer’s account and failure to comply with Guidelines on Diaspora remittances.”
Similarly, UBA was reported to have incurred regulatory sanctions of N278m in H1 2021, N287m lower than the sum of N565m incurred in H1 2020, the report said.
In the case of FCMB Group, the Bank’s penalties rose from N150.2m paid to regulatory bodies in H1 2020 to N162.3m in H1 2021, Punch reported.
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