TheNewsGuru

Tag: Banks

  • [Just In] Scarcity of naira: Benin City boils as angry customers set 2 banks on fire

    [Just In] Scarcity of naira: Benin City boils as angry customers set 2 banks on fire

    Protesters in Benin City the capital of Edo State have set two commercial banks on fire to register their anger of scarcity of naira.

    TheNewsGuru.com, (TNG) reports the protesters hinged their actions on hardship caused by none availability of new notes in the state.

    The angry customers who pleaded with the Central Bank and the federal government to extend the date of final disengagement of old notes to allow citizens exhaust the old notes in circulation resulted to burning the banks threatening that more banks will be set ablaze.

    As at the time of filling in this report the angry customers are building up enough numbers to enable them match to the CBN office located at Akpakpava around the Ring road to burn it down to protest the hardship faced by indigenes of the state.

    More details shortly…

  • Police uncover plans by hoodlums to attack banks, others in Oyo

    Police uncover plans by hoodlums to attack banks, others in Oyo

    The Police Command in Oyo State, says it has uncovered plans by hoodlums to attack and loot banks, shopping mails, INEC offices, and other facilities in the state.

    This is contained in a statement by the Command’s spokesman, SP Adewale Osifeso, on Friday in Ibadan.

    The statement is coming on the heels of Friday’s protest by some youths in Ibadan who blocked major roads in Iwo, Agodi gate and the state secretariat over scarcity of new naira notes and fuel.

    Osifeso said that available intelligence revealed that certain unscrupulous elements have perfected plans to hijack the protest and unleash full scale chaos by shutting down and attacking places of interest.

    He listed the hoodlums’ target to include INEC facilities, banks, media houses, schools, Correctional Centers, major malls and business centers, as well as other critical infrastructure in the state.

    “Member of the public are hereby advised especially with reference to the youth segment to avoid being used by agents of violence who want to capitalise on the situation to criminally enrich themselves especially as we navigate towards the 2023 General Elections.

    “The Command is fully prepared to mobilise fully to prevent these criminal elements from turning Oyo state into their playground,” he said.

    He announced that the command had ordered intensive patrols to provide comprehensive security across the state.

    The Commissioner of Police, Adebowale Williams advised residents to go about their lawful businesses without any fear of harassment or molestation.

    He assured that the police would not allow the relative tranquility within the state to be disrupted by unscrupulous and criminal elements.

  • CBN to clamp down on banks filling their ATMs with old notes

    CBN to clamp down on banks filling their ATMs with old notes

    The Central Bank of Nigeria, Director of the Legal Services Department, Mr. Kofo Salam-Alada, has said the agency will start clamping down on banks that still continue to fill their Automated Teller Machine (ATM)  with old naira notes very soon.

    Recall that CBN has pegged January 31st as the day the old naira notes will cease o exist.

    He said the CBN was already monitoring banks that were still dispensing old naira notes from their ATMs, saying the act must stop now.

    The director who represented the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, spoke during a sensitization event on the new naira notes in Computer Village Market, in Lagos on Wednesday.

    He said, “I can tell you today that the CBN on daily basis issue out the new notes. As we speak, banks are with the CBN taking money. We are actually begging banks to come and take money from Central Bank. We have these new naira notes in our vaults and we are begging banks to come and take it.

    “We found out that a lot of things are happening that we need to checkmate, so we stopped withdrawal of new notes over the counter to ensure  that everyone can have access to it and not one chief who is known to the manager, walks in, and  carts away all the new notes in a particular branch. That is why we said it should be in the ATMs which cannot distinguish people.

    “We also have monitors going around banks now. I have been to some ATMs this morning and I have done the reports. We are not mobilizing the masses against the banks because the banks are there to serve you, but be rest assured that they will serve you now that they know that the CBN is on them to serve you with the new naira notes.”

    Reacting to questions from traders in the market that some people were selling the new notes, he said anyone caught selling the new notes or any denomination of the naira would be jailed.

    Speaking on the new notes, the President of the Coalition of Associations in Computer Village, Timi Davies, noted that the new naira notes are a good initiative.

    He said, “But unfortunately, the new notes are not well circulated within our market. The ATM machines are not dispensing the new notes and only a few privileged ones seem to be having access to the new notes.

    “We want to encourage the CBN and the government to enforce the deadline on the banks. There should be no bank that should not be giving the new naira from their ATMs. All ATMs should load the new notes. As we are giving the old notes, we should be able to get the new notes. If the ATMs are not dispensing, the new notes will not flow around.”

    The CBN has assured that there are more new notes that can circulate insisting that the January 31st, 2023  deadline  date is still very much intact, with no extension  in sight.

     

  • Currency redesign: Banks push new notes into circulation

    Currency redesign: Banks push new notes into circulation

    Thursday, December 15th, 2022 has been earmarked as the day the new redesigned naira notes will become a legal tender in the country.

    Expectedly, banks across the country will be releasing the bills to their customers via over-the-counter payments as of today.

    TheNewsGuru.com reported that President Buhari unveiled the new bills at a weekly Federal Executive Council meeting in Aso Rock Villa few weeks back.

    The redesigned notes of N200, N500 and N1,000 denominations were unveiled for public consumption in the country.

    Recall that  the Governor of  Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN) Godwin Emefiele, noted few weeks back that the new notes will be in circulation as from December 15th with gradual effort to ease out the old notes, saying it will cease to become legal tender as from January 31st 2023.

    According to Emefiele, redesigning of the naira notes would help to curb counterfeit notes, and reduce ransom payments to terrorists and kidnappers.

    He added that, 85 per cent of the total currency in circulation was being hoarded by Some sections of persons in the country.

    As such, he said the redesigning of the local currency would help to mop up the currency outside the banking sector, adding that out of about N3.3tn in circulation, close to N2.75tn were outside the banking sector.

    Meanwhile, top officials of commercial banks confirmed to newsmen on Wednesday they had received the new notes from the CBN a couple of days ago,  adding that the redesigned currency would be released to their customers effective Thursday.

    “We got the funds (new notes) about two days ago. Our head office has dispatched the funds to various area offices across the country. My branch will pick up our allocation at a nearby area office. We will start releasing the new notes to our customers by Thursday,” according to a top official of a commercial bank who spoke to one of our correspondents on condition of anonymity on Wednesday because he was not authorised to speak on the matter.

    Multiple banking sources also said the new notes had arrived and were being kept in their vaults.

    They assured that the new currency will get into circulation, saying customers will be given the notes and will accept new notes for exchange too starting from today.

     

     

     

  • NDIC, CBN to conduct Risk Based Supervision in banks

    NDIC, CBN to conduct Risk Based Supervision in banks

    The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), says it will continue to work with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to conduct Risk Based Supervision (RBS) in its insured financial institutions.

    RBS is a comprehensive, formally structured system that assesses risks within the financial system, giving priority to the resolution of those risks.

    The NDIC in the Corporation’s official Twitter handle on Tuesday quoted its Managing Director, Mr Bello Hassan, as saying this.

    Hassan said that the RBS was a proactive measure toward anticipating all risks, macro and micro as well as global and domestically to address same continuously.

    According to him, we have tried to immunise the system to withstand whatever shocks that may be impacting on the Nigerian economy and the financial system.

  • Court awards N540m damages to Prophet Omale against FCMB

    Court awards N540m damages to Prophet Omale against FCMB

     

    A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja has awarded the sum of N540 million in damages to Prophet Emmanuel Omale against a commercial bank over alleged negligence and defamation.

    Justice Yusuf Halilu on Tuesday held that the First City Monument Bank (FCMB) breached its fiduciary duty of care to Prophet Omale, which caused him to be summoned by the Judicial Panel of Inquiry investigating a former acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, including defamation of his name.

    Omale, who is the General Overseer of Divine Hand of God Prophetic Ministries International, an inter-denominational deliverance and prophetic ministry, had filed the suit through his counsel, Gordy Uche (SAN) demanding the sum of N5 billion in damages against the bank.

    According to the Prophet, the judicial panel of inquiry summoned him in July 2020 after the bank sometime in 2016, negligently and falsely in its computer system generated weekly automated report to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) of a “suspicious” credit inflow of N573, 228, 040. 41 (Five Hundred and Seventy Three Million Naira, Two Hundred and Twenty-Eight Thousand, Forty Naira and 41 kobo) into the church’s corporate account No: 1486743019 in line with the Money Laundering Prevention Act; the Economic and Financial Crimes Act and the Terrorism Prevention Act, which mandates it to report any suspicious financial transaction of its customers.

    He said the false alert and the summons caused his name to be dragged in the mud in the media which caused him untold hardship, trauma and great financial losses, which the bank owned up in its letter published in three national newspapers.

    The judge awarded an aggravated damage of N200 million, special damage of N140,500 million, and N200 million in general damages.

    “The conduct of the Defendant in this case, clearly from the evidence that have been made out, is certainly careless and negligent; it is certainly not careless and negligent but unprofessional”, the judge said.

  • Police confirm robbery of 3 banks in Kogi

    Police confirm robbery of 3 banks in Kogi

    The Kogi Police Command on Wednesday confirmed that dare-devil armed robbers attacked three different banks in the state on Tuesday.

    Mr. Edward Egbuka, the State Commissioner of Police, made the confirmation in a statement in Lokoja by the Command’s image maker SP William Ovye-Aya.

    Egbuka gave the names of the Banks robbed on Tuesday afternoon to include UBA, First Bank and Zenith Bank, all in Ankpa, Kogi.

    He explained that immediately the alert of the robbery was received, Anti Robbery Squad quickly led a team of tactical operatives to the scenes for on-the-spot assessment.

    He said the CP had directed the deployment of additional operational assets, consisting operatives of the Police Mobile Force, Counter Terrorism Unit, Quick Response Unit, State Intelligence Bureau in synergy with other security agencies, to restore normalcy in the area.

    “The good news is that the Police personnel on duty both at the station and the banks, who quickly recovered from the sudden attack, gallantly repelled the attackers and forced them to flee, some into nearby bushes, while others with their vehicles.

    “The robbers abandoned three vehicles used for the operation in their haste to escape, some of them with bullet wounds, ” he said.

    The CP, according to the PPRO, called on the people of Ankpa and its adjoining communities to be on the lookout and report anybody seen with bullet wounds to the Police or any other security forces nearest to them.

    Egbuka assured that the Command was committed to working in synergy with other security agencies and patriotic stakeholders in the onslaught against crimes and criminality, to make Kogi a safe and secure place for citizens.

    He said the CP had ordered the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Investigation Department (SCID) to begin investigations and unravel the remote and immediate causes of the act, trail the hoodlums with a view to apprehending them to face justice

    He urged members of the public to go about their lawful businesses as they continued to collaborate with the Police and other security agencies.

    He appealed to the public for credible and timely information on the activities of criminal elements in their environs.

  • NDIC gives update on sale of Polaris Bank, other banks

    NDIC gives update on sale of Polaris Bank, other banks

    Mr Bello Hassan, Managing Director, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has said that all Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) in Nigeria, including Polaris Bank are safe and sound.

    Hassan made the clarification on the sideline of a three-day Capacity Building Workshop organised by the Legal Department of NDIC, for law enforcement agencies at BWC Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, on Wednesday.

    He also said that Polaris Bank was not sold as reported by some media recently.

    The event had, “Effective Investigation and Prosecution of Banking Malpractices that Led to Failure of Banks’’, as its theme.

    “All banks that are operating within the country are sound in as much as their licences have not been revoked.

    “If there is a problem, the regulator that issues the licence will be the one to revoke the licence.

    “In as much as the licence is not revoked, you’re free to continue to bank with the institutio; it means it is safe,’’ Hassan said.

    The NDIC boss also explained that the corporation usually carried out stress tests on banks on a monthly basis, to ascertain their financial soundness.

    He said: “The Central Bank also does stress testing, and so do we in NDIC. In fact we do it on a monthly basis to ascertain the financial soundness of those banks and we see no red line.

    “When we talk of key financial soundness indicators, we are talking about the capital adequacy and liquidity and the quality of the assets.

    “Those two solid financial soundness indicators that you use to gauge the safety and soundness of these institutions are robust.

    “So, based on that, the banks are safe and sound; continue to bank with them.’’

    Recall that the management of Polaris Bank recently discredited the report on the purported sale of the bank by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to private individual for N40 billion.

  • Reps unearth N300bn unclaimed funds in banks

    Reps unearth N300bn unclaimed funds in banks

    The House of Representatives ad hoc committee on unclaimed funds on commercial banks in Nigeria has unearthed over N300 billion unclaimed funds in the banks.

    Chairman of the Committee,Rep. Uyme Idem, said this on Wednesday in Abuja, adding that the amount represented a fraction of unclaimed funds in the commercial banks.

    Idem said that the money could be described as hanging funds emanating from failed transactions by government agencies and banks.

    The chairman said that the committee was saddled with the responsibility of recovering N1.2 trillion which had been hanging in the banks.

    He said that about N300 billion was discovered on March 29 from banks and government agencies.

    He said that the committee was still scrutinising documents and reports sent to it by banks and government agencies, adding that this would help the committee to recover more funds.

    “The commercial banks are regulated by government and they cannot refuse us. This assignment is crucial. We will not allow any government agency or commercial bank to undermine our power.

    “If the commercial banks fail to appear the next line of action will be to summon them,” he said.

    Stressing that a situation where the country would go out to borrow money to fund its budget when it has over N1 trillion hanging in banks would not augur well for the economy.

    He said that if the money in the banks was recovered, it would go a long way to help the country from borrowing.

    Citi Bank earlier appeared before the committee but was told to go and reconcile its documents and report back.

  • EDO: Armed robbers attack 4 banks in Uromi

    EDO: Armed robbers attack 4 banks in Uromi

    There was pandemonium in Uromi, Esan North East Local Government of Edo State, as armed robbers attacked four commercial banks and killed five people.

    The robbery took place on Thursday.

    Suspected armed robbers wasted no time during their operation

    Eyewitnesses described the robbery as a coordinated attack.

    According to them, some policemen were among the casualties of the unfortunate incident.

    An eyewitness, who pleaded anonymity, alleged that the armed robbers carted away unspecified huge sums of money from the affected banks.

    He said, “The attacks were well coordinated, as the suspected armed robbers wasted no time during their operation.

    “It was done in a commando-style, and the armed robbers launched the attacks simultaneously. We have not heard or seen such attacks in this town before.”

    The eyewitness noted that the incident created panic in the community.

    It was gathered that some of the residents, who reside around the banks, have abandoned their homes, squatting with friends and families.

    The Edo State Police Command Public Relations Office, Kontongs Bello, confirmed the attacks, saying, “That’s true”, but did not provide further details.