Category: Banking

Oyetunji Abioye The ongoing issue around a court order asking the Central Bank of Nigeria and 19 Deposit Money Banks to release the details of all accounts without the Bank Verification Number with a view to seizing the funds in them took a new twist on Monday as indications emerged that the lenders named in the suit had engaged the services of a top law firm to address the matter. Already, the law firm has approached the court for an extension of time to appeal the court order. Top bank…

Banks are bracing for the effects of a likely  forfeiture of funds in accounts without the Bank Verification Number (BVN). Should the government enforce the court order on such accounts, the banks will recall loans from customers; and lay-off staff. Speaking yesterday on the development, former Registrar/Chief Executive, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Uju Ogubunka, said a massive loan recall would help the lenders keep their liquidity ratio within regulatory threshold. Liquidity ratios are based on various portions of a bank’s current assets and liabilities taken from its…

Banks were gripped yesterday by the fear of a major liquidity crisis should the government pull out funds belonging to customers without Bank Verification Number (BVN).  The deadline given by the court for such customers to lose their cash is tomorrow. Justice Dimgba Igwe of the Federal High Court, ruling on an ex parte application filed by the Federal Government through the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation on October 21, granted the temporary forfeiture of such cash within two weeks unless the owners justify their ownership of such accounts. There…

Banks will soon crack down on customer’s accounts following new directives from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday, on Bank Verification Number (BVN) operations and watch-list for the banking industry. Records from the NIBSS show that there were about 45.85 million total bank accounts unlinked, but when compared with the active accounts the number dropped to 15.72 million unlinked to BVN as of February 2017. The record further shows that as of October 8th, 2017, the total BVN issued were 30,511,506. In a memo to the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement…

Afeez Hanafi Traders at Warewa community, in the Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State, have been defrauded by a ‘wonder bank’ operator, identified as Ngozi Adline. Adline, who hails from Imo State, allegedly swindled traders in the community out of over N2m. It was gathered that the woman operated under the name, Link M Investment Limited, while two workers, Oluwatoyin Adebayo and Esther Adelanwa, were used to collect money from customers. PUNCH Metro learnt that her whereabouts had been shrouded in mystery since August 2016 when she fled…