CBN slams N499b fine on 12 banks for loan policy breach
For breaching its guidelines on lending to the real sector of the economy, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has fined 12 major banks N499.1billion.
According to an approved debit instruction, the affected banks and the amount they will pay are: Citibank (N100,743,055, 321); First Bank of Nigeria (N74,668,880,480); FBNQuest Merchant Bank (N2, 697,456,144); First City Monument Bank (FCMB), (N14, 371,064, 742) and Guaranty Trust Bank (N25, 147, 933, 628).
Others are Jaiz Bank (N7, 525, 165,552); Keystone Bank (N4, 162, 938, 879); Rand Merchant Bank (N2, 823,177,399); Standard Chartered Bank (N30,027,137,984); SunTrust Bank (N1,703,205,427); United Bank for Africa (N99,676,181,916) and Zenith Bank (N135,629,337,625).
The banks will lose the money at source from their Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR) with the CBN.
The CRR is a portion of the banks’ deposits kept with the CBN for regulatory reasons.
The apex bank, on July 3, 2019, directed banks to maintain a minimum Loan Deposit Ratio (LDR) of 60 per cent by September 30, 2019.
The LDR, which was being reviewed quarterly to improve lending to the real sector, was 58.5 per cent as at May.
It has now been raised to 65 per cent for the last quarter of the year.
