According to its corporate disclosure, UBA PLC has intimated its investors/shareholders that it is embroiled in series of lawsuits with a total claim estimated at NGN430.84 billion.
Details about these lawsuits were contained in its Q3 unaudited result which showed that bank has a total of 598 lawsuits.
See the disclosure below:
“The Group, in the ordinary course of business is currently involved in 590 legal cases (2015: 577). The total amount claimed in the cases against the Group is estimated at N430.84 billion (2015: N443.4 billion)”.
“The Group has made provisions amounting to N198 million (2015: N185 million) in respect of these suits. The directors having sought the advice of professional legal counsel are of the opinion that no significant liability will crystalise from these cases beyond the provision made in the financial statements.
“In the normal course of business, the Group conducts business involving acceptances, performance bonds and indemnities. Contingent liabilities and commitments comprise acceptances, endorsements, guarantees and letters of credit. The following tables summarise the nominal principal amount of contingent liabilities and commitments with off-balance sheet risk”.
The bank concluded that “There are also other contingent liabilities arising from claims instituted against the Group, for which provisions have not been made. The matters are currently being considered by the courts and the Group considers it probable that the judgements will be in its favour. The potential undiscounted amount of the total payments that the Group could be required to make if there are adverse decisions in relation to these lawsuits is estimated to be N1.41 billion”.
UBA PLC did not disclose the nature of the lawsuits nor companies, individuals involved in the matter. Some of the matters could be linked to customer complaints, loan charges/disputes and TSA related matters.
By the next quarter, the bank might be disclosing actual settlements and how it intends to resolve all matters without affecting its operations.
