- NDIC assures prompt claims payment
From Uche Usim, Abuja
For failing to meet minimum performance standards, the Central Bank of Nigeria, on Tuesday, revoked the operating licenses of 132 microfinance banks, four primary mortgage banks, and three finance companies in the country.
The revocation was disclosed in the official gazette of the Federal Government published on the website of the apex bank.
Specifically, the banking sector regulator, the licenses of the affected firms ceased to exist because they deviated from the type of operation for which their licenses were issued for a continuous period of six months.
They were also alleged to have “failed to fulfill or comply with the conditions subject to which their licenses were granted; or failed to comply with the obligations imposed upon them by the Central Bank of Nigeria in accordance with the provisions of Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020, Act No. 5.”
The four primary mortgage banks whose licenses were revoked are Resort Savings & Loans, Safetrust Mortgage Bank, Adamawa Savings & Loans, and Kogi Savings & Loans.
The finance companies whose licenses were revoked include HHL Invest & Trust Limited, TFS Finance Limited, and Treasures & Trust Limited.
Meanwhile, some of the microfinance banks listed include Bluewhales Microfinance Bank, Igangan Microfinance Bank, Mainsail Microfinance Bank, Everest Microfinance Bank, Merit Microfinance Bank, Musharaka Microfinance Bank, Nopov Microfinance Bank, among others.
The CBN Governor’s action drew strength from the powers conferred on the Central Bank of Nigeria under Section 12 of BOFIA 2020, Act No. 5.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has assured depositors of the affected firms of speedy payment of their insured sums,
The Managing Director/Chief Executive of NDIC, Bello Hassan gave the assurance in a statement following the announcement of the revocation of the licenses of the affected MFBs and PMBs by the Governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele.
As a deposit insurer, Hassan said the NDIC would begin the process of payment of the insured sums immediately with the verification of eligible depositors at the respective premises of the closed banks.
He enjoined the affected depositors to obtain the required documents for the exercise, such as proof of account ownership, verifiable means of identification, and alternate bank account to facilitate their seamless verification and payment of their insured deposits.
The NDIC boss stated that the insured deposit was the first claim the Corporation pays to depositors upon revocation of the bank’s license by the apex regulatory authority in the country’s banking sector.
He said the maximum specified limits for the MFB and PMB sub-sectors are N200,000 and N500,000 per depositor per bank, respectively.
As liquidator, the MD/CE disclosed that the Corporation has also put machinery in motion to commence sales of assets of the defunct banks as well as recover debts owed to them in order to declare liquidation dividends on a pro-rata basis to the affected depositors with claims exceeding the maximum insured sums of N200,000 for MFBs and N500,000 for PMBs.