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GTBank, Access Bank, UBA, Stanbic IBTC fined N1.36bn for forex violations

Published

2 years ago

April 8, 2022

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has sanctioned Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank), Access Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA), and Stanbic IBTC for foreign exchange infractions.

Ripples Nigeria findings showed that about N1.36 billion was debited from the accounts of the four banks as monetary fine for 2021 period, with GTBank accounting for the largest penalty.

CBN‘s clampdown on banks comes amid its tight control over forex usage by individuals and businesses amid dwindling foreign reserves, which stands at $40.1 billion as of January 2022.

The bottleneck around forex access was trailed by criticism, but that hasn’t stopped Nigerian banks from limiting monthly international web dollar spend to $20, starting from March 2022.

So amid CBN’s tight forex control, Guaranty Trust Bank was fined a whooping N690 million by the financial regulator for contravening the apex bank’s foreign exchange rules. The transaction that resulted in the penalty involved betting and gaming companies.

United Bank for Africa (UBA) got a penalty of N260 million for foreign exchange documentation deficiencies in respect of three unnamed customer accounts.

The CBN also penalised Stanbic IBTC N230 million for alleged contravention for extant FX regulation, which occurred within seven years, from January 2013 to July 2020.

Herbert Wigwe-led financial institution, Access Bank, was also caught up in a seven years foreign exchange regulation contravention, which fell between January 2013 and July 2020.

Access Bank was fined N80 million for the infraction, while it was also sanctioned N100 million for violating CBN guidelines on FX in August last year.

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