The newspaper said the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the principal agency leading Nigeria's anti-corruption drive, may now arrest the chief executives of the 13 banks that failed to meet the 25-billion Naira requirement set by the central bank for continued licensing.
There is still hope the bank will be approved, however, according to a CBN official.
"For the [Alliance] group to now be considered, a top CBN official told ThisDay that it must put N25 billion cash on the table, which is now a requirement for new banking licence in Nigeria," the newspaper said.
Here is the relevant excerpt from the story:
ThisDay check revealed that the Alliance Bank group which comprised eight of the 13 banks liquidated, failed to meet the two conditions set by the CBN to be met last Friday.
According to information, the group failed to recover certain percentage of insider related credits totaling more than N10.5 billion as at yesterday and could not provide an organogram, which will indicate “who and who” will run the consolidated entity.
For failing to meet these two required conditions, in addition to meeting the prescribed N25 billion capitalisation, the Group was disqualified from securing final approval from the CBN.
For the group to now be considered, a top CBN official told THISDAY that it must put N25 billion cash on the table which is now a requirement for new banking licence in Nigeria.
THISDAY also gathered that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) may have started arresting chief executives of banks that could not cross the N25 billion capitalisation threshold.
The apex bank was said to have instructed the EFCC to arrest and detain the chief executives so that they will be available to answer certain questions and help the banking regulatory authority and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) in the event of liquidation of their banks.
Another Nigerian Bank, Hallmark, was among those that failed to meet the deadline:
The 13 banks facing liquidation are ACB International Bank, Afex Bank, Allstates Trust Bank, Assurance Bank, City Express Bank, Eagle Bank, Fortune Bank, Gulf Bank, Hallmark Bank, Liberty Bank, Metropolitan Bank, Trade Bank and Triumph Bank.
However, the position of Hallmark Bank was yet unclear last night as it was said to be back in discussion with Union Bank. But if the talk fails, it will face the same consequences as the rest.
Readers may remember that it was Hallmark Bank where the Nigerian share of the $123 million signature bonus fee paid by ChevronTexaco and ExxonMobil and two smaller partners was deposited. News reports subsequently said the money was "trapped" in the bank and unavailable, and there is no indication it has ever been recovered.
The Hallmark bank was used as a depository despite not being on the list of banks approved for such deposits promulgated by the government through the Central Bank of Nigeria as required by the West African nation's 2005 transparency law, one cause of delays in last year's awards.
Some speculate the funds were returned to the companies that paid it upon payment of a bribe to bank executives, but have offered no evidence. Now, per the article, its officers will be arrested and police may be able to determine exactly where the money went.
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