SEC DG, Ms Arunma Oteh

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has stated that it would do everything possible to ensure that it clears the Transaction Implementation Agreements (TIAs) submitted by the five rescued banks before September 30 deadline set by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Director-General of SEC, Ms Arunma Oteh, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos said the commission had deployed enough personnel to ensure that their cases were treated urgently.

Oteh said the commission had assigned more resources to review the applications to ensure approvals were completed ahead of the September 30 deadline.

According to Oteh, “the commission’s team is working all hours to complete the due diligence required for the submissions made by the banks.”

She explained that there were no delays in the processing of applications adding that, “SEC as a responsible organisation takes its mandate of investors’ protection with utmost seriousness.

Oteh said: “The SEC always ensure that our due diligence on any transaction is efficient and comprehensive,” she said.
The director-general noted that the commission recognised the importance of the TIAs to the resolution of the banking sector challenges, adding that SEC would ensure the appropriate thing was done.

It would be recalled that the five rescued banks, namely Intercontinental Bank Plc, Oceanic Bank, Finbank, Union Bank and Equatorial Trust Bank (ETB) had signed TIAs with their core investors.

The aim was to ensure they beat the apex bank's deadline for recapitalisation and place them in a position to hold their Extraordinary General Meetings (EGM), which is expected to be held late August.

The last of the five rescued banks to file TIA is ETB, which it has done with Sterling Bank Plc.
The rescuers’ of the five banks are Access Bank Plc, (Intercontinental Bank Plc), Eco Bank Transnational Incorporated, (Oceanic) and FCMB Plc, (Finbank).

Others are African Alliance Capital (Union Bank) and Sterling Bank Plc (ETB).
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), Mr. Mustafa Chike-Obi, had in an interview with THISDAY, last week warned that more rescued banks risk nationalisation if their shareholders refuse to approve their Transaction Implementation Agreements (TIAs) with prospective investors at their upcoming EGM.

The corporation had said it was determined to protect depositors by all means.
Afribank Plc, Bank PHB Plc and Spring Bank Plc have already suffered a similar fate as their licences were withdrawn by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for failing to reach recapitalisation agreements with investors’.

The Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) subsequently took over the defunct banks and created three bridge banks, which were immediately acquired by AMCON.

Chike-Obi, had said he hoped that the few shareholders still resisting the recapitalisation of their banks by new investors would be sensible enough to approve their acquisitions.

Failure to do so, he had explained, would mean that the five affected banks would have their licences revoked by the CBN and handed over to NDIC, after which the bridge banks created from the exercise would be acquired by AMCON