An investment banking executive has died after allegedly working a 120-hour-a-week shift on a deal in the Financial Institution Group (FIG) sector.

According to Trading View, the bank has released an official statement on the issue relaying their reaction to the news and their plans following the development.

“Our focus is on doing whatever we can to support the family and our team, who is devastated,” the bank said.
The deceased associate worked with the FIG team whose job description is to advise bank clients on deals.

Reports from social media claimed the associate had a wife and a child and joined the bank through the Veterans program, having previously been a green beret.

Unverified social media posts claimed he worked a 120-hour-a-week shift for four weeks and didn’t sleep, managing to stay awake by drinking energy drinks.

There are also unconfirmed reports on Instagram that he had an existing health issue.

These claims, however, have not been validated and the official cause of death remains unknown. The trending claims that he died of overwork remain speculative.

Relatives of the associate have asked for his name to remain anonymous and not be shared as they continue to grieve his death.

The tragic event follows earlier complaints by junior banking colleagues that they were working 100 hours a week during the pandemic and beyond.

There have been suggestions that working hours for most junior staff have worsened yet again as banks pitch for and execute deals with smaller teams.

In 2013, a Bank of America intern Moritz Erhardt died after having epileptic feet post-working hours. Reports claimed that Erhardt had worked for three days straight without sleep.

Sources across the American banking industry have particularly complained about the FIG sector and how life can be unbelievably harsh.

“When I worked in a FIG team it was the worst experience of my career,” said one technology banker. “This is largely because working for other bankers as your clients’ sucks,” a source complained.

The death of the investment banking executive has prompted outrage amongst many in the industry who feel working hours are still excessive and banks are not caring enough for junior staff.

It would take some time before the real reason behind the death of the investment banker is uncovered while his death has added much-needed pressure to the fight for reduced work hours in the banking sector.

The Central Bank of Nigeria has ordered banks operating in the country to start charging a cybersecurity levy on transactions.

A circular from the apex bank on Monday disclosed that the levy implementation would start two weeks from today.

The circular was directed to all commercial, merchant, non-interest, and payment service banks, among others.

The circular revealed that it was a follow-up on an earlier letter dated June 25, 2018 (Ref: BPS/DIR/GEN/CIR/05/008) and October 5, 2018 (Ref: BSD/DIR/GEN/LAB/11/023), respectively, on compliance with the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act 2015.

However, the apex bank exempted loan disbursements and repayments, salary payments, intra-account transfers within the same bank or between different banks for the same customer, and intra-bank transfers between customers of the same bank from the levy.

Also exempted from the levy were inter-branch transfers within a bank, cheque clearing and settlements, ⁠Letters of Credits, ⁠and Banks’ recapitalisation-related funding only bulk funds movement from collection accounts, savings, and deposits including transactions involving long-term investments, among others.

Nigerians on social media are lamenting the new levy, which they complain has added to the multiple levies paid for electronic transactions. In this report, PUNCH Online highlights the five other transaction levies paid and the amount deducted on transactions between N1,000 and N1,000,000.

1. Cybersecurity levy

N5 is charged on the transaction of N1,000

N50 is charged on the transaction of N10,000

N500 is charged on the transaction of N100,000

N5,000 is charged on the transaction of N1,000,000

N50,000 is charged on the transaction of N10,000,000

2. Transfer fee

N10 is being charged on the transaction below N5,000

N25 is being charged on the transaction between 5,001 and N50,000

N50 is being charged on transactions above N50,000

3. Stamp duties

N50 is being charged on transactions between N10,000 and N10,000,000

4. Short Messaging Service (SMS)

N4 is being charged on each electronic transfer notification

NB: This is only applicable to customers on eligible electronic transactions. Those who opt for e-mailing services are not charged the same.

5. Value Added Tax

N0.75 is being charged on N10 transfer fee

N1.875 is being charged on the N25 transfer fee

N3.75 is being charged on N50 transfer fee.

The naira depreciated further to N1,430 at the parallel section of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Monday.

The FX rate represents a 4.38 percent drop from N1,370 traded on May 1.

Speaking to TheCable in Lagos, currency traders, also known as bureau de change (BDC) operators, put the buying rate of the greenback at N1,400 and the selling price at N1,430 — leaving a profit margin of N30.

At the official window, the local currency appreciated by 3.30 percent to N1,354.21 on Monday — from N1,400.40 on May 3.

During the trading period, the dollar exchanged for as high as N1,441 and as low as N1,285 according to data from FMDQ Exchange, a platform that oversees FX trading in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, Richard Montgomery, the British high commissioner to Nigeria, on May 5, said the new exchange rates policy under the present government and the leadership of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is attracting investors.

“You all know that the foreign exchange system in the past chased away investors because it is difficult to get your exchange done and you do not know whether you will be able to move money across borders,” Montgomery said.

The British envoy also said trade relations between Nigeria and the United Kingdom (UK) are about £7 billion.