TheNewsGuru

Tag: Sterling Bank

  • [PHOTOS] Enugu Revenue Board seals Sterling Bank branch over alleged tax evasion

    [PHOTOS] Enugu Revenue Board seals Sterling Bank branch over alleged tax evasion

    Operatives of the Enugu State Inland Revenue Service on Tuesday sealed a branch of Sterling Bank Plc in the state.

    The tax agency accused the financial institution of not remitting the necessary taxes to the state government as required by law.

    It was gathered that the bank was specifically sealed on Tuesday over alleged non-remittance of withholding tax on interest deduction due to the Enugu State government for the period of 2015 and 2016.

    The revenue board accused the bank of owing it to the tune of N72 million.

    The bank was sealed after the Enugu State Board of Internal Revenue reportedly obtained a court order to carry out the action.

    The affected lender’s branch is located on Ogui Road.

    Meanwhile, efforts to reach the bank for comments at the time of filing this report were not successful.

  • Sterling Bank appoints new Managing Director

    Sterling Bank Plc has appointed Abubakar Suleiman as its new Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The new bank chief was before his appointment, the bank’s Executive Director, Finance & Strategy, a role he has served in since May 2012.

    The lender also announced that its founding Director and long-serving CEO, Yemi Adeola, has notified the Board of Directors of his desire to retire with effect from 1 April 2018 after over 14 years of service on the Board.

    Adeola’s banking career started in the then Nigeria International Bank Ltd now Citibank Nigeria Ltd in 1988 where he served in various capacities and rose to the position of Executive Director in 1998, one of the youngest officers and indeed one of the first Nigerian nationals to be appointed in that capacity with the Citigroup Inc’s Nigeria unit between February 1998 and May 2003.

    In July 2003, Adeola became the Deputy Managing Director (DMD) of our legacy component, Trust Bank of Africa Limited. He was instrumental to the formation of Sterling Bank in 2006, served as Integration Director in the immediate post-merger phase and up until 2007 as Executive Director covering Commercial & Institutional Banking and later Corporate Banking prior to becoming CEO.

    Chairman of the Board of Directors, Sterling Bank Plc, Asue Ighodalo, said: ‘In 2008, Adeola was appointed to the role of substantive CEO. Since that appointment, he has overseen a period of strong growth in market share and profitability with the institution moving from the 23rd ranked bank measured by assets to the top half of the domestic banking market”.

    Additionally, Adeola and his team have navigated multiple economic and banking credit cycles with great skill, sound judgment and outstanding professionalism often thriving in the most difficult conditions evidenced by the emergence of the Bank as a consolidator in the 2009 to 2011 cycle despite its modest capital base and distribution footprint at the time, and its continuing success in growing organically thereafter.

    “More than anything else, Adeola’s legacy is reflected in the excellent professional reputation of the Bank;” the stability of its Board and Management – something rarely seen in merged institutions; and the overall strength of its institutional governance, all of which are achievements that I have no doubt that the new leadership team will build upon and extend even further”

    Continuing, he said: “On behalf of the Board and all our colleagues, I thank first and foremost his family for their sacrifice, and Adeola himself for his outstanding service to the bank and exceptional leadership while trusting that we can continue to call upon his counsel as ‘Emeritus CEO’, notable shareholder and friend of the Bank”.

    Suleiman said: “I am deeply humbled but delighted to be stepping into the CEO role at this time. Over the past decade under Adeola, our share of the banking market has grown significantly, and our brand has become established in the marketplace. I look forward to working with the Board and my colleagues in Management towards building on the excellent foundation already in place to deliver superior value for the benefit of all our stakeholders’.

    Adeola said: ‘Our bank has grown materially in all respects over the past decade moving from being a marginal player on the fringes, to an established operator trusted by millions of people today. The achievements highlighted by the Chairman in his remarks have required huge personal sacrifice on the part of many people. I am extremely grateful to all of them for their support and know that Suleiman and his team can continue to count on this support in the months and years to come”.

  • Alleged hidden N249.6b: Fidelity, Skye, Sterling banks clear air, say we are not involved

    Sequel to A Federal High Court ruling on Thursday ordering seven Nigerian banks to remit to the Federal Government $793,200,000 (about N249,659,700,000.00) allegedly hidden with them in breach of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy, Fidelity, Skye and Sterling banks has cleared the air in an official statement, saying they were not involved in such deal.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that a vacation judge, Justice Chuka Obiozor, made the interim order following an ex parte application by the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF).

    The judge warned that the remittance order would be made permanent on August 8, unless cause was shown why it should not.

    The AGF, through his counsel, Prof. Yemi Akinseye-George (SAN), accused the commercial banks of illegally keeping the sums in their custody for “unknown government officials”.

    Justice Obiozor ordered the banks to remit the money to the designated Federal Government’s Asset Recovery dollars account domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    The banks are United Bank for Africa (UBA), Diamond Bank Plc, Skye Bank Plc, First Bank Limited, Fidelity Bank Plc, Keystone Bank Limited and Sterling Bank Plc.

    However, in a statement, Charles Aigbe, Divisional Head of Brand and Communications, said Fidelity Bank had no role.

    The statement said: “Our attention has been drawn to media reports stating that Fidelity Bank illegally concealed $24.5m in contravention of the Federal Government’s Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy, citing court papers filed by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation at the Federal High Court in Lagos today (yesterday).

    “Please note that at the commencement of the TSA policy all TSA related accounts held by the bank were fully disclosed to the authorities.

    “We do not have any TSA related account with a balance of $24.5m in Fidelity Bank which has not been remitted to the authorities.

    “This matter is coming to us as a surprise. We are therefore reaching out to the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation to ascertain which account or parastatal they are referring to with a view to carrying out a detailed reconciliation.”

    Accordingly Skye bank in a mail sent to TheNewsGuru.com by its Head, Strategic Brand Management and CommunicationSkye Bank’s, Nduneche Ezurike clarified that the said funds are held with the full knowledge of the relevant Agencies of the government including the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the DSS, the National Assembly and the Inspector General of Polices’s Special Investigation Panel, with whom we have engaged extensively over same.

    “The management of Skye Bank hereby states that it neither colluded nor unilaterally hid the reported sum or any other funds in its custody. ”

    “We wish to inform our numerous stakeholders that Skye Bank is a law abiding institution and will, therefore, not conduct itself in breach of the laws or policies of the government, including the TSA policy.” The stament reads.

    In a similar vein, Sterling Bank’s Chief Marketing Officer Brands and Communication Group Henry Bassey, said there is “no hidden NAPIMS and NPDC funds in Sterling Bank”

    The statement added: Our attention has been drawn to reports of an order by the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos on Thursday 20th July 2017mandating Sterling Bank Plc to remit the sum of US$46.5m (Forty Six, Million, Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars Only) to a designated Federal Government Asset Recovery Account with the Central Bank of Nigeria.

    “The sum in question supposedly represents undisclosed qualifying funds under the Federal Government’s Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy illegally kept by the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) and Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC).

    “We wish to state unequivocally that Sterling Bank does not hold any sum in any currency as a deposit from either of these entities.

    “We have therefore written formally to the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF) demanding a clarification of this claim and a correction in the interest of the general public.“