The Nation Newspaper

Tag: cbn

  • Fed Govt recovers N34b from illegal MDA accounts

    Fed Govt recovers N34b from illegal MDA accounts

    • Orders full execution of new payment system

    About N34billion has been recovered out of N58billion traced to illegal accounts being operated by some Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), the Minister of Finance, and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has said.

    She explained that the proceeds were revenues generated by the MDAs, but diverted instead of remitting  them  into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) Account maintained at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    The minister disclosed these to newsmen in Abuja yesterday at the inauguration of two committees on Integrated Payroll and Personal Information System (IPPIS), and the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS). She assured that the Federal Government will take further measures to ensure that the government gets what is due to it.

    “We had to act fast as agencies that are revenue generating refused to comply with the provision of remitting 25 per cent of such funds to the treasury. We pleaded with them, tried to dialogue with them, but it was not working,” she said, adding, “so we had to take some drastic measures. We have so far recovered N34billion of such monies and have factored it into cash backing for second quarter release for budget 2013.”

    The Federal Ministry of Finance had last month disclosed that some revenue generating agencies in collusion with banks, were withholding about N58 billion, but not remitted to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF).

    It threatened that effective June 17, 2013, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, will close such accounts in all banks. This process of systematic closure, the Ministry stated, would continue until all monies that should be in the Consolidated Revenue Fund are retrieved.

    Okonjo-Iweala said, “rather than comply, the agencies and banks, through their lawyers, have engaged in all manner of legal subterfuges to ensure that monies which are due to the Federal Government are not remitted.

    “The objective of this conspiracy against the national interest, is to keep government monies indefinitely in accounts earning interest for individuals at the expense of the Federal Government and the Nigerian people,” stressing that the federal government “is determined that this unacceptable practice must end forthwith.”

    She said the government has consequently ordered the full operationalisation of the Integrated Payroll and Personal Information System (IPPIS),  and the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), by December this year.

    She said 58 per cent of the federal budget is now being implemented through the GIFMIS platform, adding that by the end of the year, the entire budget implementation is expected to be done through the same platform to ensure accountability.

    With regards to IPPIS, Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala said the government has been “able to capture 215 MDAs and saved a total of N119billion, and has equally discovered about 46,000 ghost workers. She explained that the idea is to capture the remaining 321 MDAs, saying by the time the remaining MDAs were captured, “we would have saved more for the government.”

    She said these two initiatives have assisted the government, “in curbing corruption and the introduction of fake names into the payroll system, as well as modernise the way government handles its finances.”

    In his remarks, the Acountant-General of the Federation and a member of the committee, Jonah Otunla, said GIFMIS was introduced with the aim of improving the acquisition, allocation and utilisation of public funds.

    He said the committees, represent a good platform in modernising government finances and reducing incidences of government borrowing.

  • FG recovers N34b from illegal MDA accounts

    FG recovers N34b from illegal MDA accounts

    The Federal Government said it has so far recovered N34billion out of the N58billion traced to illegal accounts operated by some Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

    The MDAs were alleged to be generating revenues and diverting them instead of remitting them into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) Account maintained at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    Briefing journalists in Abuja on Monday at the inauguration of two committees on Integrated Payroll and Personal Information System (IPPIS) and the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS),  the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said the federal government will take further measures to ensure that the government gets what is due to it.

    She said, “We had to act fast as agencies that are revenue generating refused to comply with the provision of remitting 25 per cent of such funds to the treasury. We pleaded with them, tried to dialogue with them, but it was not working. So we had to take some drastic measures. We have so far recovered N34 billion of such monies and have factored it into cash backing for second quarter release for budget 2013.”

    The federal ministry of finance had last month disclosed that some revenue generating agencies in collusion with banks were withholding about N58 billion generated by some government agencies but not remitted to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF).

    The ministry then threatened that from Monday, June 17 the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, will close such accounts in all banks. This process of systematic closure the ministry said will continue until all monies that should be in the Consolidated Revenue Fund are retrieved.

  • CBN and medical tourism; Kudirat Abiola and Rewane murders: Al Mustapha free?

    Apparently NHIS is recruiting Accenture to assist it in‘re-strategising’. NHIS should note that Accenture will be paid up-front and well, something the NHIS does not do with its partners. Accenture should ask why NHIS delays payment of bills from doctors by up to six months with the attendant opportunities for ‘I-beg-pay-me-now’ chop-chop corruption. Accenture should recommend that NHIS pays within one month of bill receipt. Accenture should recommend that even if there is a dispute on the bills of one or two patients then the rest of the bill should be paid immediately while the disputed bills are being sorted. Doctors, clinics and hospitals cannot survive if their money is ‘NHIS Withheld’ and getting finder’s fee bank interest for someone. Accenture should investigate the approved poor fees chargeable by the medical teams for services rendered. Good services cost good money. That is why NHIS has recruited Accenture. Accenture should recommend that NHIS extends the act and pays its medical [practitioners better.

    Back to the issue of medical tourism. To pay for a N4.8m medical machine we must divide by N1,500/patient = 3,200 patients, a few years work, at a scan charge of N1,500/patient without adding salaries, rent, generator, taxes or Nigeria’s ‘Anti-inflation’ interest rates of 21-25% per annum. The cost of a similar scan per patient in USA is $200 or N30,000 ie. 160 patients would cover the machine cost – a few weeks work. As 7Up says, ‘the difference is clear’-ly against us –Nigerian doctors and professionals. Not every doctor practices in Abuja, or Ikoyi/VI.

    How many times have soldiers used ‘hospitals are mere consulting clinics’ as an excuse for coup plots? Do you know what the sign ‘O/S’? It means ‘out of stock’ and it could mean suffering and death for the patient. How can a hospital not have oxygen at midnight when your child is gasping? The ‘happiest people’ in the world are also the ‘most foolish’- swallowing suffering so easily! Doctors did not create the scenario of medical tourism and doctors cannot solve it. They suffer mentally and are as much victims as the citizen who cannot afford to travel abroad for treatment and has inferior treatment from outofstockitis of the good quality drugs and equipment.

    Do you know the doctor’s pain of knowing what to do and knowing how to do it but being prevented from doing it by a lack of equipment? Even worse is to be told to ‘manage’ with obsolete facilities – a waste of skill. Doctors did not cause medical tourism but they know who did cause it and doctors can diagnose the problem and offer simple treatment. Listen to the professionals’ needs. Those who did cause medical tourism are the self-serving civil servants and politicians who cut and cancel medical budgets for Nigerian citizens and are themselves on frequent medical tourism trips abroad sometimes disguised as official government trips –someone has to pay! Those who cause medical tourism in Nigeria are sitting in CBN making base interbank interest rates –MPR- 12% and approving 21-25% interest rates for commercial banks. Doctors and other medical professionals are often trying their best and failing. Bankers ‘make it’ in Nigeria even as they refuse medical loans. Doctors need tools as the new 21st Century medicine is high-tech and machines are upgraded or changed every few years -except in Nigeria where second hand equipment is mostly our lot. Nigeria usually gets the leftovers, as usual! We do not even fund or carry out adequate research into malaria-our major killer.

    If only Sanusi had announced a new CBN ‘Anti-Medical Tourism Plan’ with special entrepreneurship ‘self-development/self-recognition’ loans and even medical practice development long term 4-5 year 2-5% interest loans to professionals across capital-intensive disciplines professions including Medicine. This would allow doctors in and out of government hospitals and other medical professionals to acquire the life-changing cutting-edge equipment needed to deliver high quality services. Only then will we face the medical and other tourism threats on equal footing– with quality equipment and services at home.

    Remember, every patient would travel if the opportunity arose. This confirms a lack of faith in the system- a systemic failure, not a doctor failure! The Nigerian professional is at an all-round disadvantage –financially, access to new equipment and even professionally as it takes money to travel abroad to train on new equipment –money that is not easily recovered from an NHIS which wants to pay minimally for services rendered and does not countenance or take full cognisance of the changing and rising cost involved in providing those medical services in the field. Add the necessary acquisition of second hand, often rubbish, equipment because medical establishments often cannot afford the newest and the best. This is the long established tokunbo-isation of medical equipment and medicine.

    So Al Mustapha is acquitted, free and riding high in Kano. Will Kudirat Abiola, Alfred Rewane and other Abacha-era victims also be freed and resurrect from their graves so their loved ones can also welcome them with parades, parties and prayers. Will they be reinstated in their own ‘armies? Will the Abacha-era death games begin again? Will the bloodshed during the Abacha regime ever be explained, avenged or apologised for? So who killed them or did they kill themselves? Those who think political murder is an acceptable ‘joke’ or legitimate game plan will pay some way, no matter how many millions have been secreted away.

  • Forex forms, others for automation

    Forex forms, others for automation

    The process of getting foreign exchange Forex Forms ‘A’ for invisible trade transactions, form ‘NXP’ for export and form ‘NCX’ for non-commercial exports fully automated has begun, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said.

    Speaking at the GTBank Settlement Customer Forum in Lagos, CBN Director, Trade and Exchange, Musa Batari, said with globalisation and development in information, communication technology, trade settlements have been enhanced and documentation partially made electronic.

    He said to address the challenges of documentation, the CBN started automation of some of the Forex Forms. The form ‘M’, which indicates the intention to carry out import transaction, was automated last December.

    This, he said, was achieved with combined efforts of the CBN, banks, Messrs Webb Fontaine, Nigeria Customs Service and Federal Inland Revenue Service.

    Already, the CBN has announced the commencement of self-submission of the e-Form ‘M’ on the Nigerian Single Window for Trade Portal by importers and traders using foreign exchange.

    It said the self-submission was necessary after the banking watchdog successfully deployed trade portal.
    The e-Form ‘M’ is web-based and allows importers, traders to initiate the Form from their offices/homes and submit same to the authorised dealer.

    The CBN advised importers and traders to begin self-submission of the e-Form ‘M’ on the Trade portal in line with design and objective of the scheme.

    The e-Form ‘M’ is completed by importers while bidding for foreign exchange for importation of goods. Before now, Form ‘M’ was manual, making it difficult for banks to process forex transactions for their customers.

    He said the full automation gives banks the opportunity to adapt fully to the process and master the challenges that come with the e- version of the process.

    Despite the achievement of full e-version of the process, Batari said banks still face challenges bothering on Tax Identification Number (TIN), discrepancies in e-mail address, network instability, high down time frequency among other factors.

    “The automation of the e-forms will enhance transparency; reduces cost transaction; eliminate delays; provide reliable data for monitoring and planning purpose; and achievement of overall efficiencies of trade processes,” he said.
    Batari advised importers to ensure that they have valid TIN, e-mail address provided at the point of registration, which should be maintained to avoid problems in completing the form. Besides, he said the vendor and other stakeholders should ensure the stability of the system to avoid disrupting the processing of trade transactions.

    He explained that the process allows the importer to complete and submit the form ‘M’ online.  It also allows for the attachment of supporting and regulatory documents. For Initiation and Submission of the e-Form M on the system, TIN is required to access and register the e-Form M on the system.

    He said importers with valid TIN can access the Single Window Trade Portal and register as importer under the Federal Inland Revenue Services window.

    Batari explained that international trade is the exchange of goods and services. It therefore, implies that settlement has an important role to play in trade. “The banks are the major institutions responsible for settlement of trade transactions except where such trades are done informally. The health of the banking industry is a necessary condition for enhancing and fostering trade,” he said.

  • Visa advocates financial inclusion

    Visa advocates financial inclusion

    The Visa Incorporated has reiterated the need to focus more on getting people in remote parts of the country involved in banking services. The Country Director, Sub-Saharan Africa, Visa Incorporated, Mr. Ade Ashaye said a lot of money in circulation is outside the banking system and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) cash-less policy is simply targeted at encouraging people to make payments electronically rather than cash.

    He said financial inclusion is being widely pursued because there has always been a problem on how to reach people that is far away from banks. This, he said will involve banks opening more branches and getting their customers into embracing e-payment services.

    He said by encouraging electronic payments, banks will have more money to lend to industries. “A lot of cash is outside the banking system, a practice which will be reversed when more transactions are done electronically using cards,” he said.

    He said VISA is also advising the CBN and banks on how to ensure that the global best practices are achieved in course of implementing the cash-less policy of the apex bank.

    He said there is need to create awareness on how to make people understand how to use the electronic banking products adding that achieving financial inclusion will require the banks expanding their networks to remote areas to reach more people.

     

  • CBN: N166b dud cheques issued in 2012

    CBN: N166b dud cheques issued in 2012

    Bank customers issued dud/dishoured cheques worth N166 billion last year, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said yesterday. CBN Acting Director, Financial Policy and Regulation, Y.B Duniya said in a circular to all banks and financial institutions, that over 167,507 dud cheques were issued by customers and processed by deposit money banks from January to December 2012.

    He warned that henceforth, the CBN will forward the account details of erring customers to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for further investigation and prosecution.

    Duniya said that the enormous volume of dishonoured cheques in the financial sector has shown no sign of abating. The implication of the development, he said, is the low confidence generated in the use of financial instruments which adversely affects the CBN’s cash-less policy aimed at reducing the volume of cash-based transactions and businesses in the country.

    The CBN director said that over-indulgence of cash in the economy increases the cost of banking services, raise the incidence of crime and facilitate money laundering.

    He said the CBN is collaborating with the financial institutions and law enforcement agencies to check the prevalence of dud cheques in the economy.

    He advised financial institutions to ensure that prospective and existing customers pledge not to issue cheques against unfunded accounts. “By way of enforcement, financial institutions are required to monitor cheque transactions in their customers’ accounts in order to identify those customers that have issued cheques against unfunded accounts on three instances effective July 5,” he said.

    The banks are also to render monthly report to Director, Financial Policy and Regulation Department of the CBN. They should also report on the affected customers’ profile, transaction history and attach copies of both the front and back of the financial instruments used.

  • CBN mulls biometric authentication of bank customers

    CBN mulls biometric authentication of bank customers

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it will introduce Biometric authentication of bank customers in 2015 using Point Of Sale (POS) and Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).

    The introduction of biometric authentication is to address the safety of customers’ funds and avoid losses through compromise of Personal Identification Numbers (PIN).

    This disclosure was made by the CBN governor Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi at the stakeholders sensitisation on the cashless Nigeria programme for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    Sanusi said: “Biometric authentication for POS and ATMs to address safety of customers’ funds and avoid losses through compromise of PIN is being considered and to be implemented by 2015.”

    Corroborating Sanusi, Chidi Onwealu who represented Eme Eleonu, Head, Shared Services, of the CBN said the financial industry cannot continue to wait forever as they will apply biometric authentication of bank customers.

    Onwealu said: “We have started a financial institutions biometric project. Right now we are capturing. The project has just started and very soon we’ll start capturing finger prints of all customers in the financial system.”

    This effort he said, will serve “as a first base to start enabling biometric options and by 2015 we expect that the illiterate trader in Onitsha and the illiterate trader in Kano would not have to come to your bank and you see his signature as irregular because those are the kind of things that stop them from opening accounts.”

    He berated banks for giving their customers cumbersome forms to fill. “They are not comfortable with that so they’ll rather have their money under their beds but as soon as we start applying biometric options, all they need is their finger prints to access their funds and so on.”

    The CBN governor represented by John Chukwudifu, the FCT branch controller, said the apex bank has taken great steps to gain the confidence of ATM consumers and as such has been able to reduce fraud committed with electronic cards by 90 per cent.

    To gain ATM users confidence, the CBN, Sanusi said, had to enforce migration from Magstripe type of debit card to chip and pin (EMV compliance) type of debit card.

    As a result of this effort, statistics he said, “shows that this effort has reduced the fraud incidences by 90 per cent. Many customers are now embracing the use of electronic (ATM and POS) channels in their transaction because of near impossible efforts of would-be fraudsters in being able to clone debit cards to perpetrate fraud as it was the case during the pre-migration era.”

    On the introduction of cashless programme in some states and cities in the country, Sanusi said, “there would be prevalent use of debit cards to perform transactions on ATM, POS and Internet banking, and these transactions would have to pass through public infrastructure which are prone to cyber threats (a source of vulnerability) as being experienced in developed economies.”

    He said “cases of debit and credit cards cloning are vulnerable areas that need urgent attention for the country to reap the benefits of cashless society.”

    Another challenge to the cashless programme of the CBN, Sanusi lamented, will be “displacing cash as the preferred means of payment.”

    Nigerians are so attached to using cash that “the cost of cash to Nigeria’s financial system is high and increasing, in fact, direct cost of cash is estimated to reach N192 billion in 2012″ Sanusi said.

  • CBN moves to take Nigeria off money laundering list

    CBN moves to take Nigeria off money laundering list

    AHEAD of the visit of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the Central Bank has adopted measures for getting Nigeria removed from the list of non- co-operative countries (NCCTs) on money laundering and terrorism financing. The FATF team is expected to arrive in September to access the country’s level of compliance.

    To be delisted Nigeria is expected to address non-implementation of procedures, identity issues, freezing of terrorist assets and failure to ensure that customer due diligence requirements apply to all financial transactions.

    To fulfil this requirement, the CBN has mandated international travellers to declare funds, or negotiable instruments in excess of $10,000 to the Customs. In a circular to banks signed by its Acting Director, Financial Policy & Regulation, Y.B. Duniya, the CBN said Section 2(3) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act (MLPA), 2011, (as amended) provides that transportation of cash or negotiable instruments in excess of $10,000, or its equivalent by individuals in or out of the country shall be declared to the Customs.

    Also, Section 2 (5) provides that any person who falsely declares or fails to make a declaration to the Customs in line with Section 12 of the Foreign Exchange (Monitoring & Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2004, is guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to forfeit the undeclared funds, or negotiable instrument, or imprisonment of not less than two years, or both.

    The Act under reference, he said, required the Customs to forward such declarations to the CBN and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). He said Section 2(5) of the Act states that false declaration, or failure to declare to the Customs is an offence, adding that forfeiture of the undeclared funds or negotiable instrument occurs upon conviction.

    The Committee of Chief Compliance Officers in Nigeria (CCCOBIN) has also advised banks to provide adequate resources and empowerment for their Chief Compliance Officers (CCOs) and other relevant officers to ensure that Nigeria’s Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) risks are well managed.

    CCCOBIN Chairman, Pattison Boleigha said bank officers involved in driving the implementation of the money laundering laws and regulations must be protected. He said erring staff must be sanctioned.

    He said banks were already showing commitment to ensuring that the sector received positive response from FATF during their next review on the country.

    Boleigha said banks strengthen their processes and ensure that issues identified by FATF are addressed by their management and staff.

  • Currency in circulation drops to N1.47tr

    Currency in circulation fell by 2.5 per cent to N1.47 trillion in April, a report from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has shown.

    In the preceding March, the currency rose by 4.9 per cent and by 3.4 per cent in the corresponding period of last year.

    The CBN said the development showed the 4.6 per cent decline in currency outside the banks’ component. Total deposits at the CBN are N6.1 trillion, indicating a decline of 10.2 per cent below the level at the end of the preceding month.

    Reserve money (RM) declined by 12.2 per cent to N3.4 trillion at the end of the review month, reflecting the trends in commercial banks’ deposits with the CBN.

    Available data showed that money market indicators were relatively stable in April last year. The CBN intervened in the market using the Open Market Operations (OMO) to mop up excess liquidity.

    The bank said Federal Government Bonds and Nigerian Treasury Bills (NTBs) were issued at the primary market on behalf of the Debt Management Office (DMO) for fiscal operations. Activities in the Over-the-Counter (OTC) segment of the market was buoyed, largely, by the inclusion of 10 FGN Bonds into the Barclays Market Index (BMI) on April 1, as well as the liquidity status accorded to the instruments.

    According to the CBN, provisional data indicated that the value of money market assets outstanding at end of April 2013 was N6.2 trillion, indicating an increase of 1.9 per cent, compared with the increase of 3.8 per cent at the end of the preceding month. The development was attributed to the three per cent increase in FGN Bonds outstanding.

    Also, available data indicated mixed developments in banks’ deposit and lending rates during the review month. With the exception of interbank call, the average savings and the 12-month tenored deposit rates which rose by 0.85, 0.05 and 0.40 percentage point to 11.24, 1.82 and 6.49 per cent.

    However, all other deposit rates of various maturities fell from a range of 0.85 to 7.99 per cent to a range of 0.84 to 7.94 per cent. At 6.83 per cent, the average term deposit rate fell by 0.16 percentage point below the level in the preceding month.

    Similarly, the margin between the average savings deposit and maximum lending rates widened by 2.17 percentage points to 22.71 per cent during the period. At the interbank call segment, the weighted average rate, which stood at 10.39 per cent at end of March 2013, rose by 0.85 percentage point to 11.24 per cent. Similarly, the weighted average rate, at the open-buyback (OBB) segment, rose by 0.32 percentage point to 10.62 per cent from 10.30 per cent at end-March, this year.

    Aggregate Standing Lending Facility (SLF) granted in the review period was N845.31 billion with a daily average of N40.25 billion, compared with N993.43 billion with daily average of N49.67 billion in the preceding month. This showed a decline of 14.9 per cent.

    The aggregate Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) stood at N2.7 trillion with daily average of N130.97 billion,

    Available data indicated that total assets and liabilities of the deposit money banks (DMBs) amounted to N22.5 trillion, showing an increase of 0.9 per cent below the level at the end of the preceding month.

    Funds were sourced mainly from the disposal of unclassified assets, accretion to capital account and increased mobilisation of time, savings and foreign currency deposits. The funds were used, largely, in the extension of credits to the Federal Government and the private sector, as well as acquisition of foreign assets.

    At N14.1 trillion, DMBs credit to the domestic economy rose by 2.4 per cent over the level in the preceding month. The breakdown showed that relative to the level at the end of the preceding month, credit to the Federal Government and private sector rose by 6.9 and 1.0 per cent, respectively.

    Total specified liquid assets of the DMBs stood at N6.7 trillion, representing 44.5 per cent of their total current liabilities. At that level, the liquidity ratio fell by 31.2 per centage points below the level in the preceding month, but was 35.4 percentage points above the stipulated minimum ratio of 30 per cent.

  • CBN to review Agent Banking guidelines

    CBN to review Agent Banking guidelines

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said it will be taking a second look at the Agent Banking Guidelines it issued months back.

    Speaking yesterday at the launch of the Geospatial mapping of Financial Institutions in Nigeria in conjuction with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi said it is important to review the guidelines because of initial challenges the banking practice is facing.

    He said many of the prospective operators are confused over the guidelines and there is need to review it to make all aspects of the guidelines clearer. He said part of the new rule will be an automatic licence for commercial banks and microfinance banks.

    He said the agent banking guideline is in line with the powers conferred on the CBN under Section 2 (d) of the CBN Act, 2007 and Section 57 (2) of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA), Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

    The statute empowers the CBN to issue guidelines for the maintenance of adequate and reasonable financial services to the public. The objective of agent banking, it said, is to provide minimum standards and requirements for agent banking operations, enhance financial inclusion and provide for agent banking as a delivery channel for offering banking services in a cost effective manner.

    Agent banking is the provision of financial services to customers by a third party (agent) on behalf of a licensed deposit taking financial institution and/or mobile money operator (principal).

    The agent banks are expected to receive cash deposit and withdrawal, carry out bills payment (utilities, taxes, tenement rates, subscription etc.), payment of salaries, funds transfer services (local money value transfer), balance enquiry, generation and issuance of mini statement, collection and submission of account opening and other related documentation among others.

    They are also to carry out cash disbursement and cash repayment of loans, cash payment of retirement benefits, cheque book request and collection, collection of bank mail/correspondence for customers, any other activity as the CBN may from time to time prescribe.

    The applications for licence will be accompanied with board approval, document that will outline the strategy of the financial institution, including current and potential engagements, geographical spread and benefits to be derived among other factors.

    Under the guideline, Super-Agents are described as agent networks that will establish a collection of outlets or franchise within its wide network of outlets that will be under its supervision and control.

    The Sole Agent is expected to be a sole agent, who does not delegate powers to other agents but will assume the agent banking relationship/responsibility by himself while the Sub-Agents are networks of agents that will be under the direct control of a super agent as may be provided in the agent banking contract.

    Also, licensed institutions are advised to renew all agent agreements biennially except otherwise required while the CBN will, at least on annual basis, monitor financial institutions/agent relationships; compliance with laid down guidelines and regulations.

    The approach for monitoring super-agent would differ from other agent types in view of the probable higher risk, liquidity management and consequences of failure. In the case of super agents the CBN shall require full disclosure on persons or entities that control more than 10 per cent or more of the share capital or has powers to exercise significant influence over the management.