The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced plans to take strict action against bank Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and chairmen who do not release their annual financial statements within 12 months of the financial year’s conclusion....For More READ THE FULL STORY▶▶
The apex bank mandated that such officials should be dismissed immediately.
This directive was outlined in the CBN’s 2024-2025 Monetary, Credit, Foreign Trade, and Exchange Policy Guidelines, which were published on its website yesterday.
The CBN mandates that banks and other financial institutions, with prior written approval from the apex bank, must publish their audited financial statements within three months of the end of each financial year.
These statements are to be published in two national daily newspapers that are widely distributed in Nigeria.
Additionally, the CBN specified that, for the purpose of streamlined consolidated supervision, all banks and their subsidiaries must maintain December 31 as their accounting year-end.
The CBN stated that senior officers of any bank in violation of this policy will be held responsible for the breach and outlined various sanctions that may be imposed on them.
The report reads: “The CBN shall continue to hold the Board Chairman and Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) of a defaulting bank directly responsible for any breach and impose appropriate sanctions, which may include barring the MD/CEO or his/her nominee from participating in the Bankers’ Committee and disclosing the reason for such suspension; suspension of the foreign exchange dealership license of the CBN and its name sent to the Nigerian Exchange Group (in the case of a publicly quoted company); and removal of the Chairman and MD/CEO from office if the accounts remain unpublished for 12 months after the end of the bank’s financial year.”
In the section addressing the publication of annual financial statements, the apex bank stated that its move to dismiss non-compliant bank CEOs and chairmen is supported by the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020.
The likelihood of this scenario occurring is minimal, as many banks, most of which are publicly listed, have strong corporate governance compliance ratings.
Existing regulations at the stock exchange, where these banks are listed, require publicly traded companies to submit their audited financial reports no later than 90 days after the end of the financial year or within 30 days following the end of each quarter.
Regulatory data indicates that banks have a solid track record of adhering to these stock market rules...For More READ THE FULL STORY▶▶
