Business

CBN, ONSA partner to probe, and penalise those involved in FX racketeering

Published

3 months ago

February 21, 2024 7:55 am

BodexNG

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) have entered a partnership to investigate and penalise those involved in illicit activities within the foreign exchange market.

The arrangement was disclosed in a statement on Tuesday, signed by Zakari Mijinyawa, ONSA’s head of strategic communications.

He said the CBN and ONSA’s efforts to combat illicit activities in the FX market are being undermined by speculators — both domestic and international — operating through various channels, thereby exacerbating the depreciation of the Nigerian naira and contributing to inflation and economic instability.

“Recall that to address the exchange rate volatility, CBN initiated a comprehensive strategy to enhance liquidity in the forex market, including unifying FX market segments, clearing outstanding FX obligations, introducing new operational mechanisms for Bureau De Change operators, enforcing the Net Open Position limit for commercial banks, and adjusting the remunerable Standing Deposit Facility cap,” the statement reads.

“To reduce the pressure on the naira, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has raised a 7,000-man special task force across its 14 zonal commands to clamp down on dollar racketeers.

“Yet, recent intelligence reports have highlighted continued illicit activities within the Nigerian foreign exchange market. The ONSA and CBN are therefore, embarking on this collaborative approach to tackle these infractions.”

According to the statement, the partnership will involve a coordinated effort with key law enforcement agencies, including the Nigeria police force (NPF), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).

Mijinyawa said the joint efforts demonstrate the Nigerian government’s commitment to improving its anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) framework and exiting the grey list of the financial action task force.

He added that the efforts will make progress in ensuring a stable and transparent FX market, fostering investor confidence, and advancing the nation’s economic wellbeing.

Business

‘7 international, 15 national’ — CBN updates list of licenced banks

Published

6 hours ago

May 8, 2024 4:05 pm

BodexNG

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has updated the list of deposit money banks operating in the country.

This was disclosed in a circular published on May 7 on its website and titled ‘List of Deposit Money Banks and Other Financial Institutions as of 26th April 2024’.

Newsmen observed the number of deposit money banks moved from 34 in 2020 to 44 in the latest list.

Also, the CBN disclosed Union Bank‘s licence was downgraded from international to national.

Globus Bank, Premium Trust Bank, and Optimus Bank upgraded their licence to the national category.

A further breakdown of the latest list of DMBs by the CBN shows seven banks are under the commercial banking category with international licences, 15 banks with commercial banking licences are under the national category, and four are authorised for regional operations.

Also on the list are four non-interest banks with national licences and six banks with merchant banking licences with national authorisation.

CBN disclosed Nigeria has seven financial holdings companies (HoldCo), while the country has one representative office called the Mauritius Commercial Bank Representative Office (Nigeria) Limited.

Full list of banks and their categories

International Lenders

Zenith Bank
Guaranty Trust Bank
First City Monument Bank (FCMB )
Access Bank
United Bank of Africa (UBA)
Fidelity Bank
First Bank of Nigeria (FBN)

National Licenced

Citibank Nigeria
Ecobank Nigeria
Heritage Bank
Globus Bank
Keystone Bank
Polaris Bank
Stanbic IBTC Bank
Standard Chartered Bank
Sterling Bank
Titan Trust Bank
Union Bank
Unity Bank
Wema Bank
Premium Trust Bank
Optimus Bank

Regional Licenced

Providus Bank
Parallax Bank
Suntrust Bank
Signature Bank

Non-Interest Lenders

Jaiz Bank
Taj Bank
Lotus Bank
Alternative Bank

Merchant Licenced

Coronation Merchant Bank
FBN Merchant Bank
FSDH Merchant Bank
Greenwich Merchant Bank
Nova Merchant Bank
Rand Merchant Bank

Financial Holding Companies

Access Holdings
FBN Holdings
Guaranty Trust Holdings
FCMB Holdings
FSDH Holdings
Stanbic IBTC Holdings
Sterling Financial Holdings

Representative Office

The Mauritius Commercial Bank Representative Office (Nigeria) Limited.

On March 29, CBN announced an upward review of the minimum capital requirements for commercial, merchant and non-interest banks.

The apex bank said the increase was necessary due to prevailing macroeconomic challenges and headwinds occasioned by external and domestic shocks.

CBN advised banks unable to meet the required capital base to downgrade their licence.

Business

FG debunks officials demanded $150m bribe from Binance

Published

8 hours ago

May 8, 2024 2:19 pm

BodexNG

The federal government has accused Binance of blackmail after the company alleged officials demanded $150 million in cryptocurrency payments as bribe to settle the prosecution of its executives in Nigeria.

On Tuesday, Richard Teng, Binance’s chief executive officer (CEO), said some unknown persons in Nigeria demanded huge payments in digital currency to make their problems in the country “go away”.

Business

Naira depreciates again at official market, trades at ₦1,416 to dollar

Published

14 hours ago

May 8, 2024 8:31 am

BodexNG

The naira on Tuesday depreciated at the official market, trading at ₦1,416.57 to the dollar.

Data from the official trading platform of the FMDQ Exchange, a platform that oversees the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), showed that the naira lost ₦62.36.

This represents a 4.60% loss when compared to the previous trading date on Monday when it exchanged at ₦1,354.21 to a dollar.

However, the total daily turnover increased to 160.77 on Tuesday, up from $84.83 million recorded on Monday.

Meanwhile, at the Investor’s and Exporter’s (I&E) window, the naira traded between 1,445 and ₦1,301 against the dollar.

Bodex F. Hungbo, SPMIIM is a multiple award-winning Nigerian Digital Media Practitioner, Digital Strategist, PR consultant, Brand and Event Expert, Tv Presenter, Tier-A Blogger/Influencer, and a top cobbler in Nigeria.

She has widespread experiences across different professions and skills, which includes experiences in; Marketing, Media, Broadcasting, Brand and Event Management, Administration and Management with prior stints at MTN, NAPIMS-NNPC, GLOBAL FLEET OIL AND GAS, LTV, Silverbird and a host of others