Risk Assessment and Forensic Investigation Reports has revealed that the erstwhile management of the failed Skye Bank Plc. contributed to its failure by engaging in insider abuse, poor corporate governance and banking malpractices.
Umaru Ibrahim, managing director/chief executive officer, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) who stated this also said that management and directors of the defunct Skye Bank Plc are under investigation by both the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the NDIC.
Ibrahim, who spoke at the opening ceremony of the Corporation’s, 2018 Sensitization seminar for Federal High Court Judges in Abuja, said that the reports identified various malpractices such as fraudulent false accounting, manipulation of accounting records to present false profits and ratios, unlawful loan and credit facilities, non-disclosure of directors’ interests and lending beyond the single obligor limit.
The NDIC Boss noted that the Corporation’s implementation of the bridge bank resolution option that established Polaris Bank Ltd that assumed the assets and liabilities of the defunct Skye Bank Plc, resulted in depositors’ unhindered access to their funds, the continuity of the operations of about 300 branches and the preservation of over 6,000 jobs.
Speaking further, the MD/CE informed participants that the Corporation has commenced the payment of insured deposits to depositors of the 153 Microfinance and 6 Primary Mortgage Banks whose licenses were recently revoked by the CBN.
He noted that the Corporation performs this statutory mandate by its appointment as Liquidator through a Winding Up Order granted by the Federal High Court.
The NDIC Boss described the collaboration between the Corporation and the Judiciary as a valuable engagement towards the development of the financial system and the effective implementation of the Corporation’s mandate. He said the seminar for Federal High Court Judges with the theme “Challenges to Deposit Insurance Law and Practice in Nigeria” was specifically designed to address topical issues in Bank Supervision such as the regulatory framework of systematically important banks, the robustness of the legal system to facilitate criminal prosecution of Bank Directors and debt recovery under the Failed Banks Act.
While commending the NDIC for its continued interactions with the Federal High Court through the sensitization seminars, the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Honourable Justice Abdul A. Kafarati said the impact has been a deeper appreciation of the implications of the mandate and activities of the Corporation which has led to more proactive and accurate adjudication of cases brought before the courts. He expressed optimism that the broadening of the scope to include topical issues will further deepen the impact of the seminar towards addressing current regulatory issues in the financial system and the dispensation of more informed judgments.