•Places over 38 firms on PND
•To penalise management of banks
•Increases target credit facility to N100bn
•To penalise management of banks
•Increases target credit facility to N100bn
By Obinna Chima in Lagos and Chineme Okafor in Abuja
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has
moved against some banks through which some gaming companies have been
making unauthorised foreign exchange transfers abroad.
Consequently, the apex bank has placed a
post-no-debit (PND) instruction on the bank accounts of 38 companies,
including Premier Lotto Limited, SV Gaming Limited, R & S Lotto
Limited, over allegations of foreign exchange manipulation.
Apart from the gaming companies, the
CBN, THISDAY learnt, would deal decisively with management of banks
found culpable in the shady transactions.
Already, First City Monument Bank
(FCMB), through which about $420 million was reportedly moved abroad
without lawful authority has been queried and asked to explain why
disciplinary action, including management change, should not be taken
against it.
THISDAY learnt that there had been a lot of gaming and illegal transfers abroad by the company in collusion with some banks.
THISDAY learnt that there had been a lot of gaming and illegal transfers abroad by the company in collusion with some banks.
The apex bank, it was learnt, has decided to put a stop to the underhand deals in the interest of the economy.
The CBN, in a letter addressed to all
banks, dated September 4, 2020, and signed by its Director of Banking
Supervision, Mr. Bello Hassan, a copy of which was obtained by THISDAY
yesterday, directed that the bank accounts of the 38 banks should be
frozen.
The letter stated: “You are hereby
required to place the underlisted accounts on PND with immediate effect
and revert with the account names, numbers, currencies and balances of
all accounts placed on PND.”
With the PND placed on the accounts of the companies, transactions won’t be allowed on the accounts.
Other companies, whose accounts were
frozen, are Over the Top Entertainment Limited, Beaufortbet Nigeria
Limited, TM Gaming Network Limited, Fumsky Bureau De Change, 3D Scanners
Bureau De Change, Blue Sleevers Bureau De Change Limited, Maiburgama
Bureau De Change Limited, Upront Movers Limited, Pocasharks Ventures,
Incel Trading & Supplies Limited and Savvy Corp Limited.
Also on the list are Barkoli Trading
Company Limited, Comm. Professional Limited, Blue Wall Nigeria Limited,
JNFX International Limited, Suxus General Trading Limited, Escale Oil
& Gas Limited, Triune Resources & Energy Limited, Exchange
Telecommunications Limited, Vingt Communications Limited, Incel Mega
Resources Limited, Camberwell Logistics Limited, Godoni Enterprises
Limited, and Crescentpillars Investment Limited.
Others are Carisbrooke Global
Enterprises, Nitegale Global Resources Limited, Northline Limited,
Befour Energy & Allied Services Limited, Tasmara Integrated Services
Limited, Incel Integrated Services Limited, Laketrail Investment
Limited, Tamrose Ventures Limited, Roots Mining Company Limited, Rapid
International Procurement Limited, and Springcreek Capital Limited.
Shedding more light on the reason for
freezing the bank accounts of the 38 companies, a top CBN official, who
pleaded to remain anonymous, accused them of illegal purchase of forex
and repatriation of same abroad.
The official said: “To be honest, these
are some of the people who have been putting pressure on the black
market. They are so many and we are going after them gradually and we
would ensure that they face the law.
“There is impeccable proof that one of
the gaming companies, (name withheld), is suspected to have illegally
siphoned over $420 million over a period of 18 months under the pretext
of paying for software that can be procured by local software engineers.
These funds were illegally transferred to their companies in Mauritius
solely for the purposes of money laundering and economic sabotage.”
According to the official, the plan by
the CBN is not only to penalise the companies, “but also the banks and
their managements that allowed such illegal transfers to go through
their systems.”
He described the activities of the
companies and the banks that enabled them as economic sabotage, money
laundering and insider trading, saying CBN will ensure not only
prosecution but withdrawal of the licences of those found wanting.
“CBN is going to punish these companies and individuals to serve as a deterrent to others.
“Those of them involved in the gaming
business, their business is in naira. Some of them would say they are
paying for technical services. Assuming they even have the approval to
take money out, why are they not in the official market? Why go to the
black market? That means there is something illegal they are doing
without documentation.
“We are accusing them, especially the
gaming companies, of money laundering, illegal transfer of forex out of
Nigeria. Most of them open accounts in Mauritius and other safe havens
for them to move monies out of Nigeria and then do whatever they like.
“Now, they would say they are paying for
technical services. Were those fees authorised officially by the CBN?
The sole institution responsible for forex dealing in Nigeria is the
CBN. Did they obtain the CBN’s approval?
“They don’t even have the National
Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) approval, even
if they say it is for software purchase, as some of them claimed.
Indeed, one of them that went to NOTAP, the approval wasn’t granted
because the so-called software they claimed they wanted to import can be
manufactured locally,” he added.
The official alleged that the companies
had contravened the Money Laundering Act, which carries with it
stringent penalties that include the withdrawal of their licences and
prosecution.
CBN Increases Target Credit Facility to N100m
The CBN has increased its N50 billion Target Credit Facility (TCF) to N100 billion.
The Director, Development Finance,
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Yusuf Yila, said at the virtual
launch of the first pan-African MSME Academy that the bank had put in
place many funding support initiatives to enable micro, small and medium
scale enterprises (MSMEs) survive the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.
He added that MSMEs are an important
sector, hence the CBN and the Bankers’ Committee have put in place
combined stimulus packages directed at them.
He urged MSMEs to take advantage of the
CBN’s various funding windows to meet the demands of their businesses as
the government is striving to revamp the economy through their efforts.
THISDAY had reported that the CBN had
disbursed N49 billion out of its initial N50 billion Targeted Credit
Facility meant to cushion the impact of the COVID-19 on the economy.
Giving details of the disbursement,
CBN’s Director, Corporate Communications, Mr. Isaac Okorafor, had told
THISDAY that about 80,000 operators of MSMEs and families had benefitted
from the intervention fund.
The apex bank had earlier released guidelines for the disbursement of the special intervention fund.
The NISRAL Microfinance Bank (NMFB)
serves as the disbursing financial institution and the fund is meant for
SMEs, households and enterprises that have verifiable evidence of
livelihood and evidence of business activities adversely impacted by the
pandemic.
The scheme is being financed out of the CBN’s N220 billion Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund (MSMEDF).
The scheme is being financed out of the CBN’s N220 billion Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund (MSMEDF).
Out of the fund, the CBN earmarked a
maximum facility of up to N25 million for MSMEs while households can
access up to N3 million based on the activity, cashflow and
industry/segment size of a beneficiary.
CBN Raises N250bn for FG’s New Gas Expansion Drive
The apex bank has also raised a
financial facility worth N250 billion to support Nigeria’s plan to make
gas the first-choice fuel for its domestic economy; powering mostly the
transport and manufacturing industries.
A circular titled ‘Framework for the
Implementation of Intervention Facility for the National Gas Expansion
Programme’ obtained by THISDAY yesterday, contained how the bank will
fund the federal government’s new gas utilisation plan.
Amongst its intentions is to see Nigeria
leverages the National Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP) to quickly switch
to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as fuel for transportation and advance
the use of gas for home cooking.
The NGEP was launched recently by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr. Timipre Sylva.
The CBN’s intervention will support the
growth of domestic gas-based industries such as fertiliser for
agriculture and methanol for industrial purposes.
In the circular, the CBN explained that
parts of the N250 billion will be administered through the Power and
Airlines Intervention Fund (PAIF) for large-scale projects in the
value-chain, in line with existing guidelines regulating the PAIF.
Its subsidiary, Nigeria Incentive-Based
Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) Microfinance Bank
(NMFB) and other Participating Financial Institution (PFI) under its
Agribusiness/Small and Medium and Medium Enterprises Investment Scheme
(AgSMEIS) will administer other aspects of the fund, mostly for
small-scale operators and retail distributors within the gas
value-chain.
The circular said: “With proven gas
reserves of 188 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas, the natural gas
industry presents an opportunity to diversify the economy through
domestic commercial utilisation of its (Nigeria) natural gas.
“Historical non-viability of domestic
commercial production and utilisation of gas continues to severely
constrain private investments in the industry. Consequently, the low
level of investment in the industry has resulted in the minimal
production and utilisation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Liquefied
Petroleum Gas (LPG) as clean alternative sources of domestic energy in
Nigeria.
“Failure to harness its gas resources
has had negative consequences for the country– economic, environmental,
fiscal and social, particularly as the industry has the potential to
engender rapid growth in Nigeria’s non-oil economy.
“To this end, the National Gas Expansion
Programme (NGEP) was introduced to make CNG the fuel of choice for
transportation and LPG, the fuel of choice for domestic cooking, captive
power and small industrial complexes. Equally, gas-based industries,
most especially the petrochemical, are to be enabled to support large
industries, such as agriculture, industrial applications, textile and so
on.
“Therefore, as part of its efforts at
stimulating finance to critical sectors of the economy, the Central Bank
of Nigeria (CBN) introduces the N250 billion intervention facility to
help stimulate investment in the gas value chain.”
According to CBN, the fund will be administered in collaboration with the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.
It expressed optimism that its
implementation will improve access to finance for private sector
investments in the domestic gas value chain; stimulate investments in
the development of infrastructure to optimise the domestic gas resources
for economic development and fast-track the adoption of CNG and LPG as
the fuel of choice in Nigeria’s domestic economy.
It explained that the fund will support
the establishment of gas processing plants and small-scale petrochemical
plants, gas cylinder manufacturing plants, Liquid to Compressed Natural
Gas (L-CNG) regasification modular systems and autogas conversion kits
or components manufacturing plants.
It will also fund the establishment of
CNG primary and secondary compression stations, manufacturing of LPG
retail skid tanks and refilling equipment as well as enhancement of
autogas transportation systems, conversion and distribution
infrastructure, domestic cylinder production and distribution by
cylinder manufacturing plants and LPG wholesale outlets.
According to the CBN, micro-distribution
outlets and service centres for LPG sales, domestic cylinder injection
and exchange will also be funded by the fund to boost LPG adoption,
while gas aggregators, manufacturers, processors and wholesale
distributors will be eligible to apply to the fund for up to N10 billion
per obligor through the PAIF.
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