Nigeria’s mid-sized lender, Diamond Bank Plc, said it will cooperate with the Central Bank of Nigeria concerning the N250 million regulatory fines imposed on the bank for illegally-repatriating funds for MTN Nigeria.
Diamond Bank said in a statement that:
“We wish to notify the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and the public of a fine of N250,000,000.00 (Two Hundred and Fifty Million Naira Only), imposed on Diamond Bank by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), following its investigation on foreign exchange remittances on behalf of MTN Communications Nigeria Limited. This follows yesterday’s (Wednesday 29th August) announcement by the CBN on the matter. We note that these foreign exchange transactions occurred between 2001 and 2006 and currently, we are cooperating with the apex regulator to ensure that this matter is resolved.
This development does not impact your ability to continue to do business with the Bank. Updates on any new development will be made available to all stakeholders. We want to assure all stakeholders that the Bank complies with all regulatory policies issued,” the bank said.
In its query letter to Diamond Bank, CBN said:
i. The shareholders of MTN Nigeria Communications Limited invested the sum of $402,590,261.03 in the company from 2011 to 2006;
ii. The investment was carried out through the inflow of foreign currency cash transfer and equipment importation, which was evidenced by the CCIs issued by your bank, Citi Bank and Standard Chartered Bank;
III. The CCIs issued illegally by your bank along with the other banks in respect of the $402,590,261.03 showed that $59,436,923.44 was recorded/invested as shareholders’ loan and $343,153,339.56 as equity. This position was, however, contrary to the position in the financial statements of MTN Nigeria Communications Limited for the year ended December 31, 2007, which showed that $399,594,146.00 was invested as shareholders’ loan and $2,996,117.00 as equity investment, in accordance with the shareholder’s agreement but contrary to the CCIs issued by your bank, Citi Bank (CB) and Standard Chartered Bank (SCB). Your action in this regard constituted a rendition of false returns to the Central Bank of Nigeria.”
