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E-Financial

CBN Barks, Threatens to Sanction Banks over Card Security

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Dr. Sarah Alade, acting governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria
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Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has set November 30 deadline for banks in the country to meet specified payment card security specifications, in a move to combat card fraud in the financial system.

This is a major step to safeguarding personal and account information conveyed in processing card payments.

The apex bank, in the circular with reference: BPS/DIR/GEN/01/004, titled “Circular on timeline for PCIDSS certification by all deposit money banks, switches, processors,” threatened to “invoke appropriate sanctions for non-compliance with the provisions of this circular.”

The circular signed by Dipo Fatokun, director of the CBN’s Banking & Payments Systems Department, recalled a previous circular on the need to combat card fraud, with reference: BPS/DIR/GEN/CIR/01/08 dated May 25, 2012, banks were required to comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCIDSS) before December 31, 2012.

The extension of the deadline, the circular added, followed requests by many of the banks to enable them complete the certification process.

The CBN, the circular added, thereafter, also engaged the services of three Qualified Security Assessors (QSAs) to conduct pre-certification assessment of banks to determine their readiness.

“The result of the assessment showed that while many banks and processors have complied with the standards, some are at various stages of compliance.

According to the CBN’s report for the first half of 2013, released on February 19, this year, the apex bank said there were 2,478 fraud and forgery cases among Nigerian banks, valued at N22.4 billion. The figure was higher than the 2,300 recorded cases, valued at N7.1 billion in the corresponding period of 2012.

“Of this amount, actual loss incurred by the banks was N3.8 billion, representing 17.1 per cent of the total fraud amount, compared with N2.5 billion in the corresponding period of 2012,” and were carried through diverse means.

They include fraudulent withdrawals from customers’ accounts, suppression and conversion of customers’ deposits, theft, illegal funds transfer, cheque defalcations, and fraudulent ATM withdrawals, among others.

“To mitigate the increased operational risk as a result of these frauds, several measures were recommended to improve the DMBs risk management control function. These measures included the implementation of stricter internal control, improved technology audit to routinely check employees’ activities and a more thorough approach to hiring employees for highly sensitive areas of operation,” the report added.


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E-Financial

GTCO to Become First Nigerian Bank to List on London Stock Exchange

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By 8 am on July 9, GTCO Holdings is set to commence trading on the London Stock Exchange.

GTCO to Become First Nigerian Bank to List on London Stock Exchange

As the group is set to list all its shares on the London Stock Exchange, becoming the first Nigerian banking entity to do so.

This is as the group launches a public offer of new ordinary shares to raise approximately $100 million on the London Stock Exchange.

The equity offering, which is an accelerated bookbuild and managed by Citigroup, began on July 2 and is to last until July 31.

On July 31, the group announced that it would cancel the listing of its Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) on the UK Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Official List.

It will also cancel their admission to trading on the London Stock Exchange (LSE)’s main market.

In place of the GDRs, the group will list all its ordinary shares directly.

aims to admit all its shares to the equity shares category for international commercial companies under a secondary listing on the FCA’s Official List.

The shares will also begin trading on the LSE’s main market for listed securities.

According to a regulatory filing on the London Stock Exchange, the net proceeds from the offering will be used to recapitalize GTBank Nigeria.

Based on the prevailing exchange rate of N1,540 to the US dollar, the targeted $100 million equates to approximately N154 billion.

This capital raise is expected to position the Group to fully meet the N500 billion minimum paid-up share capital required by regulators for banks with international licenses.

As of now, both Zenith Bank and Access Holdings have already met—and exceeded—this threshold.

 


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E-Financial

NAICOM Issues New Licenses to SanlamAllianz Life, General Insurance

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The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has handed over new licenses to SanlamAllianz Life and General Insurance Nigeria Ltd at brief ceremony held in Abuja.

Olusegun Omosehin, commissioner for Insurance emphasized the Commission’s commitment to supporting the growth of insurance entities in the country, while ensuring strict compliance with regulatory requirements. He urged the companies to prioritize good corporate governance, stability, and timely claims settlement processes.

The Commissioner reiterated NAICOM’s dedication to removing unnecessary bottlenecks and improving the insurance industry’s overall performance. He expressed confidence that the merger would enhance the companies’ capabilities and contribute to the industry’s growth.

SanlamAllianz recently launched its operations in Nigeria, marking a significant step in the company’s Pan-African expansion.

The launch follows the merger of Sanlam and Allianz’s Nigerian operations, creating a new entity named SanlamAllianz Nigeria.

This joint venture aims to transform the Nigerian insurance landscape by offering enhanced customer experiences, innovative solutions, and improved financial inclusion.


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E-Financial

World Bank Approves Extra $65m for Nigeria’s SPESSE

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World Bank has approved an additional $65 million loan for Nigeria to support the Sustainable Procurement, Environmental, and Social Standards Enhancement (SPESSE) project, increasing the total financing for the initiative to $145 million.

World Bank Approves Extra $65m for Nigeria’s SPESSE

The approval was granted on June 24, 2025, according to details posted on the World Bank’s website, which also indicates that the project’s status has moved to “active” following the approval.

The SPESSE project, initially launched with an $80 million loan approved in February 2020, aims to strengthen institutional capacity for managing procurement, environmental, and social standards in both the public and private sectors across Nigeria.

The World Bank described the project’s development objective as the establishment of sustainable capacity in these areas.

This latest approval is part of a broader wave of financing expected from the World Bank to Nigeria in 2025.

The bank is scheduled to approve loans totalling $1.61 billion over the coming months, supporting various development initiatives.

Among these is a $300 million loan for the ‘Solutions for the Internally Displaced and Host Communities Project,’ expected to be finalised by the end of July.

This project aims to improve access to basic services and economic opportunities for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host communities in selected local government areas in northern Nigeria.

In September, the World Bank plans to approve four additional loans: a $10.5 million facility to support technical assistance for the Central Bank of Nigeria, a $300 million Health Security Program targeting Western and Central Africa (Nigeria – Phase IV), a $500 million project for building resilient digital infrastructure (BRIDGE), and a $500 million loan under the Nigeria Sustainable Agricultural Value-Chains for Growth project aimed at promoting sustainable growth and job creation within key agricultural sectors.

Earlier in March 2025, the bank approved three financing requests amounting to $1.13 billion.

These funds are directed towards projects focused on enhancing quality education, boosting household and community resilience, and improving nutrition.

Among the approved loans were $80 million for the Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria 2.0 project, $552 million for the HOPE for Quality Basic Education for All programme, and $500 million for the Community Action for Resilience and Economic Stimulus Programme.

In February, the Nigerian government announced expectations of new World Bank loans totalling $2.2 billion for six different projects in 2025. This follows a $1.5 billion loan disbursed in 2024 aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s economic stability and resource mobilisation efforts.


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