Money market
NDIC lists Heritage Bank’s head office, other assets for sale
The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation has listed the head office in Lagos and branches of failed Heritage Bank across the country for sale in its role as liquidator of the bank.
NDIC announced the sale of the bank properties numbering 48 and its chattel including vehicles, office equipment, plant, and machinery in another 62 locations across the country in an advertorial published on Thursday.
“The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation in the exercise of its right as Liquidator of failed Deposit Money Banks hereby invites interested members of the general public to buy the assets (landed property and chattels) of defunct Heritage Banks through public competitive bidding,” part of the advertorial read.
The head office of the bank and its annex located at 143 Ahmadu Bello Way and 130 Ahmadu Bello Way, Victoria Island, Lagos was listed for sale (buildings, chattels, generator, and motor vehicle). Also listed for sale were six other branches in Lagos, four branches in Abuja, four in Rivers States, and the others spread across the country.
Interested parties are invited to come for an inspection and subsequently put in bids on the assets to be submitted to the NDIC office in Lagos.
Bids are expected to come in with 10 percent of the bid amount in Certified Bank Draft. Successful bidders will be required to pay the balance of the bid price within two weeks of notification.
Earlier, the corporation announced the commencement of the verification and payment of the depositors of the bank with N5m or less in their accounts. This category of customers makes up about 99 per cent of the bank customers.
The Managing Director of the NDIC, Bello Hassan, at a media briefing on the liquidation of Heritage Bank in Abuja last Wednesday, put the total depositors at Heritage Bank at 2.3 million.
Hassan noted that the total bank deposits at Heritage Bank stood at N650 billion while its loan portfolio was about N700 billion.
In announcing the revocation of the licence of Heritage Bank, the apex bank in a statement signed by the Acting Director of Corporate Communication, Sidi Ali, said, “This action has become necessary due to the bank’s breach of Section 12 (1) of BOFIA, 2020. The board and management of the bank have not been able to improve the bank’s financial performance, a situation which constitutes a threat to financial stability.
“This follows a period during which the CBN engaged with the bank and prescribed various supervisory steps intended to stem the decline. Regrettably, the bank has continued to suffer and has no reasonable prospects of recovery, thereby, making the revocation of the licence the next necessary step.”
Stakeholders in the sector have gone on to express confidence in the decision of the CBN in the overall interest of the sector.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says the regulation of crypto-currencies and other digital assets are under its full control and regulation.
The Director-General of SEC, Dr Emomotimi Agama, said this at the first Annual Conference of the Association of Capital Market Academics of Nigeria (ACMAN) on Thursday in Abuja.
Agama described crypto assets as digital or virtual assets utilised by cryptography for security.
He said there were over 15,000 crypto currencies created which had Bitcoin as the most popular.
The director-general said that the regulatory landscape for cryptocurrency was not yet firm even in the United States.
According to him, Nigeria’s crypto transaction volume had reached $56.7 billion between July 2022 and June 2023, hence the efforts by SEC.
Agama quoted a survey which said that 33.4 per cent of Nigerians were using or owned crypto currencies.
”Secrecy of crypto usage is what is driving its adoption by the youth.
”Some people don’t have bank accounts but they have crypto wallet.
”Crypto is like an air, can you cage it, No. What you can do is to build a risk management around it, ”he said.
Agama said the commission would continue to educate investors on the risks associated with digital assets to be able to make wise investment decisions.
Chief Osita Izunaso, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Capital Market, said the country required effective crypto regulation to benefit from the gains of the market.
Izunaso said the absence of effective regulation on crypto currencies had exposed so many investors to fraud.
He called for synergy from all stakeholders to harness opportunities in the crypto space.
The Director-General of the Debt Management Office, Ms Patience Oniha, called for awareness creation to educate investors to make informed decisions.
Mr Bello Hassan, the Managing Director of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, said that crypto currencies had come to stay as younger people were patronising the market.
Hassan called on SEC to constantly update investors with unbiased information of the associated risks of trading in the crypto market.
Prof. Uche Uwaleke, the President, ACMAN, said the conference was aimed at considering the possibilities of expanding the financial sector regulations.
Uwaleke said the conference would also explore ways to accommodate crypto assets within the regulatory space.
ACMAN conferred awards on many stakeholders in the financial and capital markets for their various contributions in moving the markets forward.
The conference was organised by ACMAN in collaboration with SEC.
By Opeyemi Abdulsalam
The Nigerian currency, Naira, maintained its stability against the United States dollar at the official foreign exchange market on Wednesday, trading at N1,507.83 per dollar.
According to data from FMDQ, this represents a marginal change of N0.04 from the previous day’s rate of N1,507.79 per dollar.
At the parallel market, the naira also maintained its exchange rate of N1,505 per dollar, unchanged from the previous day.
Bureau de Change operators in the Wuse Zone 4 area of Abuja confirmed the rates, with one operator, Dayyabu Ashiru, stating that they sell at N1,505 per dollar and buy at N1,495.
“We sell at N1,505 per dollar and buy at N1,495,” Dayyabu Ashiru, a Bureau de Change operator in Wuse Zone 4 told a source on Wednesday.
The stability of the naira comes on the heels of recent reforms implemented by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which have attracted a significant inflow of $24 billion into the country in the first quarter of 2024, according to the CBN Governor’s recent interview with Bloomberg Television.
In a related development, the CBN on Tuesday issued a fresh directive permitting International Money Transfer Operators and all banks to pay diaspora remittances in naira.
O3 Capital, a leading Nigerian fintech and the country’s first non-bank credit card issuer, has disclosed that the launch of its four American Express (‘Amex’) cards have been met with huge demand both in and out of Nigeria.
Chief Executive Officer of O3 Capital, Abimbola Pinheiro, in a statement said, “We are delighted with the amazing response to our launch of American Express cards in Nigeria.
“The success of the Green and Platinum cards, in particular, shows the market’s enthusiasm for modern financial solutions. We are proud to support both individual and corporate customers in their financial journeys.
“Our cards launch has also struck a major chord with established banks and fintechs – many of whom have approached us to partner with them. The future for O3 is exciting.
“We are also pleased to have received a positive acknowledgment from the Government of Nigeria, to our exciting developments – and which is aligned with the Financial System Strategy 2020 of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and the main thrust of a ‘cashless Nigeria’,” he stated.
Abimbola further said the acknowledgment underscores the importance of O3 Capital’s contribution to the country’s financial ecosystem.
In May 2024, O3 Capital announced an agreement with American Express to issue four new American Express credit cards: the O3 American Express® Green Card for consumers, the O3 American Express Gold Card for consumers, and the O3 American Express Platinum® Card for consumers; and the O3 American Express Gold Business Card for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
‘How Fulani herdsmen brutalised, killed our people’
Troops kill 5 terrorists, rescue hostages in Sokoto
