Stanbic IBTC Holdings under Probe for Financial Impropriety

Fri, Sep 11, 2015

By publisher

3 MIN READ

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Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc is being probed because of allegations of financial impropriety which made the Securities and Exchange Commission to suspend the company’s  N20.4 billion rights issue

|  By Anayo Ezugwu  |  Sep 21, 2015 @ 01:00 GMT  |

THE Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, has suspended the proposed N20.4 billion rights issue by Stanbic IBTC Holding Plc, pending the conclusion of investigation into allegations of financial impropriety against the company. SEC in a public notice on its website on Tuesday, September 8, informed the investing public particularly the shareholders of Stanbic IBTC Holding Company Plc that the proposed rights issue earlier approved by the commission is hereby put on hold in view of letters received from the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion, NOTAP, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, FRCN.

The notice also informed the Securities and Exchange Commission of the ongoing investigation by the FRC on the financial statements of Stanbic IBTC Holding Plc.”

Reacting, Stanbic IBTC Holdings, in a statement on its website, noted the suspension by the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission of its proposed rights issue, pending the resolution of enquiries from certain relevant regulatory bodies.  The management of Stanbic IBTC said it would continue to engage with the relevant regulatory bodies to ensure that these enquiries were addressed appropriately. Stanbic IBTC Bank PLC, the banking subsidiary of Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC, remains well capitalised and has sufficient liquidity, it said.

The FRCN had on Monday, September 7, opened an investigation into Stanbic IBTC in response to a petition written by shareholders of the bank, drawing the attention of regulatory authorities to some unapproved transactions allegedly conducted by the bank with its foreign technical partners. Jim Obazee, executive secretary, FRCN, had disclosed this after a meeting with Dan-Azumi Ibrahim, director-general, NOTAP, in Abuja.

Obazee explained that the petition from the stakeholders of Stanbic IBTC was related to the way the group had been accruing some money in its account. “And if you accrue money in your account, well, there is nothing wrong with accrued money, but it must be disclosed properly. Now, they said the accruals were required the NOTAP approvals before they can make those payments. Now, the person petitioning is saying that there is no need making those accruals because Stanbic IBTC has not been able to secure NOTAP approval. The petition kept coming and then we invited Stanbic IBC to hear their side in the matter. And listening to their side of the story, we believe that the petitioners have a good case,” he said.

According to Obazee, apart from the protection of the rights of shareholders, the agency was interested in the case because the federal government might have lost huge revenue from taxes if the bank was actually making the deductions from profit before tax without necessary approvals from the NOTAP. In carrying out the investigation, he said the FRCN would find out if NOTAP approved any of the payments, such as historical fees, adding that transactions from 2011 to date would be reviewed. “If they didn’t get approval for 2011 fees, didn’t get for 2012, 2013 and 2014, why are they keeping the money?” he asked.

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