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By Adedapo Adesanya
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Thursday threatened to sanction commercial banks dispensing the old naira notes to customers.
The CBN announced on October 26, 2022, its decision to redesign the N200, N500, and N1,000 notes and set January 31, 2023, as the deadline for the old notes to serve as legal tender.
With less than two weeks to the deadline and several Nigerians complaining about the unavailability of the new notes, the Abeokuta branch controller of the apex bank, Mr Lanre Wahab, said the CBN will not hesitate to sanction banks still dispensing the old notes to customers.
He made the remark at an engagement – about the redesigned notes – with market men and women and members of the informal sector at the Lafenwa Market.
“They are going to be penalised wherever we still find old notes that have been redesigned – N200, N500, and N1,000. Any bank that is found still issuing/dispensing them will get sanctioned by the Central Bank of Nigeria,” he said,
At the event in the Ogun State capital, he said the central bank would soon commence spot checks on Automate Teller Machines (ATMs) to ensure compliance by banks.
According to him, the CBN has since January 13 directed commercial and deposit banks to stop issuing the old notes to customers.
“So, any bank that is sanctioned merits such because they have been warned since 13 to stop doing that,” he maintained.
While assuring that the redesigned notes remain legal tender, he appealed to residents to seize the window of opportunity provided by the CBN to exchange the old notes for new ones before the expiration of the deadline.
Recall that the central bank had announced limits on cash withdrawals via over-the-counter (OTC), ATMs, and others after it called on customers to deposit their current N200, N500, and N1,000 notes. This move was part of initiatives to increase the use of electronic transfers.
Stanbic IBTC Reward4Saving Promo Produces More Winners
Adedapo Adesanya is a journalist, polymath, and connoisseur of everything art. When he is not writing, he has his nose buried in one of the many books or articles he has bookmarked or simply listening to good music with a bottle of beer or wine. He supports the greatest club in the world, Manchester United F.C.
Old Naira Notes: Senate Begs CBN To Extend Deadline to June 30
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By Modupe Gbadeyanka
More winners have emerged in the Stanbic IBTC Reward4Saving promo designed by Stanbic IBTC Bank, a subsidiary of Stanbic IBTC Holdings, to reward its customers.
At the quarterly draws held recently, 77 customers were rewarded with cash prizes by the financial institution, with 10 walking away with N100,000 each and seven going home with N1 million each from the seven regions where winners were selected.
The winners of this quarterly draw emerged across seven geopolitical zones of Nigeria, namely the South-South, South-West, South East, North West, and North Central, as well as the Mainland and Island areas of Lagos State.
Themed Bigger and Better, the Reward4Saving 2.0 will run till March 2023, and more winners will walk away with cash prizes ranging from N100,000 to N2 million.
The Country Head for People and Culture at Stanbic IBTC Holdings, Ms Funke Amobi, commended the customers for their willingness and commitment to save for their financial freedom, assuring them that the organisation would continue to push for improved living standards for its current and prospective customers through the Reward4Saving promo.
“It gives us great joy to leave positive marks in the lives of our customers, and we are keeping our promise of making the promo bigger and better.
“The promo is still ongoing, and I advise Nigerians to take advantage of the opportunity by keeping a balance of N10,000 in their accounts for 30 days to qualify for the promo before it ends in March,” she said.
The lender has said the promo remains open to new and existing customers who can qualify for the monthly and quarterly draws by opening a Stanbic IBTC account or an @ease wallet through the Stanbic IBTC mobile app. They can also visit the Stanbic IBTC website or any Stanbic IBTC bank branch or an @ease agent.
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By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Despite efforts by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to reduce the value of unclaimed dividends in the Nigerian capital market, the amount keeps swelling every year.
A report by Daily Trust said in the first nine months of 2022, the value of unclaimed dividends in four of the five tier-one banks in the country increased by N5.6 billion.
Zenith Bank, United Bank for Africa, GTCO, Access Holdings, and FBN Holdings, collectively coined as ZUGAF by Business Post, are the big banks in Nigeria, accounting for about 70 per cent of the market share of the nation’s banking industry.
In the report, it was disclosed that the unclaimed dividends in the big lenders, excluding GTBank, jumped to N92.7 billion from N87 billion.
According to the platform, the unclaimed dividends in GTCO were not captured by the company did not give details of them in the third quarter earnings released in late 2022.
The figures of unclaimed dividends in Zenith Bank remained unchanged at N28.6 billion, but the uncollected cash rewards to shareholders in UBA jumped to N12.6 billion from N11.4 billion, with Access Bank growing to N36.8 billion from N34.9 billion, and First Bank rising to N14.6 billion from N11.9 billion.
Recall that as part of its determination to reduce the fallow investors’ funds, which the federal government moved to take from for running the country, SEC introduced an electronic-dividend registration, which allows companies to pay the cash reward directly into the bank accounts of shareholders.
It also mandated listed firms to promote the use of the e-dividend platform at their annual general meetings (AGMs) and others.
According to SEC, the apex regulatory agency in the country’s capital market, the total amount of unclaimed dividends as of December 31, 2021, stood at N180 billion.
Last month, the Director-General of SEC, Mr Lamido Yuguda, said the commission would rebuild the e-Dividend Management Mandate System (e-DMMS) platform to increase the number of mandated investors on the system.
“The reason why the number may not be reducing as expected is that many investors have not mandated their accounts. Dividends are now distributed electronically, so dividends go directly into the investor’s account, and if everybody mandates their accounts, there would be few unclaimed dividends in the system.
“This process is still open and can be done with the registrars, forms can be obtained from the banks, too, and it’s a very simple process. We also have on our website a tool that assists investors in determining any unclaimed dividends that they have. And I would encourage everyone to take advantage of these tools or to speak to the complaints section of the SEC directly, and we would guide that person appropriately,” he stated.
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By Aduragbemi Omiyale
A top financial institution in Nigeria, Access Bank Plc, has reassured stakeholders that it would continue to explore ways to expand its footprint in Kenya despite its inability to complete the merger with Sidian Bank in Kenya.
Last week, Business Post reported that the largest lender in sub-Saharan Africa pulled out of the deal after both parties could not iron out some issues regarding the acquisition.
Access Bank was planning to acquire the entire 83.4 per cent shareholding held by an investment company, Centum, in Sidian Bank Limited.
“Although regulators have all been supportive in engagements around the transaction, certain conditions precedent, including those required of Sidian Bank, which were needed to prudently complete the transaction have not been met, and the parties were unable to reach an agreement on the variation of these conditions in a manner to deliver the desired outcome for the parties.
“Consequently, we hereby notify the Nigerian Exchange Ltd and the investing public that the Sidian acquisition will no longer be completed by the bank,” a notice to the NGX by Access Holdings Plc, the parent firm of Access Bank, had stated last week.
But despite the setback in the transaction, the lender emphasised that it would not affect its drive to promote regional trade finance and other cross-border banking services in the East African Community (EAC) and broader COMESA region as it works towards its vision to be Africa’s gateway to the world.
“The bank remains committed to growing its franchise in a safe and sound manner in Kenya and the broader East African Community and will continue to explore a variety of organic and inorganic opportunities to grow its market share therein,” the statement, signed by Sunday Ekwochi, Company Secretary of Access Holdings PLC, read.
Recall that Access Bank already made a strategic entry into the highly-competitive Kenyan financial ecosystem through the acquisition of Transnational Bank Plc of Kenya (now Access Bank Kenya) in 2020.
Another notable strategic expansion executed by Access Bank in recent years was the acquisition of the defunct Diamond Bank Plc in 2018, a process completed in 2019. In 2021 the bank announced the acquisition of Cavmont Bank Limited and merged its existing operations in Zambia following the acquisition
It also completed the acquisition of Grobank of South Africa in 2021, and in the same year, completed the acquisition of about 78.15 per cent holding in African Banking Corporation of Botswana Limited.
Access Bank’s expansion drive promises great value for stakeholders and presents enormous opportunities to support the growth of the trade and payment ecosystem.
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