The Nation Newspaper

Tag: FITC

  • FITC marks 30 years of bank directors’ training

    FITC marks 30 years of bank directors’ training

    The Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC) will on Tuesday, celebrate three decades of successful Bank and Financial Institutions Director Training.

    Speaking at a media briefing in Lagos, Managing Director/CEO, FITC, Dr. Lucy Newman said the firm initiated the Bank Directors’ Continued Education Programme (CEP) series in 1985, in line with the FITC mandate to protect, promote and advance the knowledge and practice of banking and finance.

    The programmes, she said, was also aimed at exploring innovations that enable efficiency and quality of banks and financial institutions, including effective practices of corporate governance.

    She said the 2014 edition, being the 30th year of such sessions, with the theme “Board Effectiveness for Sustainable Value Creation”, will hold from October 14  to 15, in Lagos.

    Newman said this year’s edition of the programme is special, because it marks the 30th anniversary of the programme targeted at chairmen, executive and non-executive directors of banks and other financial institutions.

     

     

     

    She said the Central Bank of Nigeria will in collaboration with FITC, deliver the 2014 edition of the CEP for directors of banks and financial institutions as a two-day high-engagement programme.

    The programme targets participants are chairmen, managing directors, executive directors and non-executive directors of banks and financial institutions in Nigeria and countries in which banks with Nigerian origin operate.

     

  • Exam malpractice, certificate forgery rock SEC

    Exam malpractice, certificate forgery rock SEC

    Allegations of certificate forgery and exam malpractices are rocking the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), The Nation has learnt.

    In one of the incidents, a young lady was allegedly caught cheating at a promotional examination  conducted by the Financial Institution Training Centre (FITC), in Lagos.

    An official said SEC “will not condone such act and is assessing all the options open to it to deal with the matter,” adding that one of such options would be to prosecute the said lady for exam malpractices.

    The official admitted that some staff of the Commission found their way into the staff list of SEC through political godfatherism, stressing that  the capital market regulatory body may beam it’s arch light on some of these individuals, since it has been discovered that some staff could not pass simple promotional examinations conducted for the organisation by reputable institutions.

    He said some of these persons have been enjoying promotion every two years.

    The official who requested that his identity be veiled,  said the impending scrutiny of staff credentials has thrown many workers of the SEC into panic, stating that there is speculation of a likely mass purge of unproductive staff anytime soon.

    However, a staff of the Commission familiar with the development, denied  the existence of any plan for a mass purge of workers by the Director-General, Ms. Arunma Oteh, but admitted that the lady that was caught cheating during the promotion examination, is trying to whip up sentiments against the management and board of the SEC.

    The SEC official also revealed that some senior staff of the SEC were discovered to have forged their certificates to secure employment, while one of them has hurriedly turned in his resignation when he realised the game was up.

    These developments have pitched the SEC boss Ms. Oteh against staff of the Commission some of whom are now clamouring that her tenure should not be renewed once it runs out later this year.

    Two years ago, Oteh was locked in a  battle with some members of the House of Representatives which resulted in the commission not receiving budgetary allocations for two-straight years.

    Those opposed to her leadership say “SEC’s staff have experienced low moral under the current administration and accused the management of financial recklessness and abuse of extant financial rules and regulation.”

    Her supporters on the other hand say “the present management of SEC has revamped the organisation in tandem with its core mandate, adding that its workforce must possess the quality needed to deliver on its mission and vision of a world-class capital market regulator.

  • CBN to publish names of errant banks

    CBN to publish names of errant banks

    THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will publish the names of banks that fail to adhere to operating guidelines in newspapers to deter others, its Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability, Dr Kingsley Moghalu, said yesterday.

    Speaking at the continuous education programme for Bank Directors organised by the Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC) in Lagos, he said after the policy’s adoption sanctions against lenders would be made public. He said the option of payment was not enough, adding that there was need to get the banks to become more responsible in handling their transactions. “When it comes into effect, we will publicise sanctions against banks. We have discovered that fines are not enough,” he said.

    He said the past 25 years witnessed the most intense, often cut-throat competition in industry and commerce, particularly in the financial services sector.

    Moghalu said banks had globally been subjected to intense regulation and supervision because of the fiduciary nature of their business. Consequently, they are required to comply with laws, regulations, guidelines, and standards issued by national regulatory authorities and international standard setting bodies.

    He advised banks to develop robust internal policies and ensure compliance in order to strengthen their controls, enssure transparency and promote sound corporate governance.

    Moghalu said while banks were expected to comply with regulations, they also needed to look critically at what makes them competitive. Technology, innovation and new product development, he said were key factors driving competition in the financial system.

    Banks, he said, were subjected to rigorous regulation because 80 to 90 per cent of their fund is from depositors, adding: “This makes it more compelling for them to comply with regulation.”

  • FITC Board renews MD’s tenure

    FITC Board renews MD’s tenure

    The Board of Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC) has approved the renewal of Dr. Lucy Surhyel Newman’s contract as its Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer for another term of five years.

    Speaking on behalf of FITC owner- institution members of the Nigerian Bankers’ Committee and FITC key stakeholders within the wider Nigerian Financial Services Sector, Dr. Kingsley Moghalu, the Chairman of the FITC Board and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability, hailed Dr. Newman’s for her performance.

    He said her first tenure led to continued enhancement of FITC’s service quality, internal capacity and brand positioning within Nigeria and beyond.

    He urrged her to continue to work effectively with FITC’s internal and external stakeholders, in taking FITC to even greater heights, while assuring her of the support of the FITC board, the Bankers’ Committee and leadership of strategic institutions within the Nigerian Financial System.

    Newman has built a reputation as a results-focused leader with proven success in aligning strategy, structure, people, policies and systems to optimise individual and organisational performance.

     

  • FITC inaugurates products for financial efficiency

    The Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC) has launched new products meant to boost learning process and professionalism in the financial sector.

    The Managing Director, FITC, Mrs Lucy Newman, named the products as FITC Virtual learning, FITC E-Recruitment Portal, and FITC Virtual Library. It also developed the Nigerian version of the International Finance Corporation corporate governance and board leadership training curriculum, as well as the FITC new publications.

    She said the products were relevant and should help the development of the financial sector and improve bankers’ knowledge of the financial sector.

    Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability, Dr Kingsley Moghalu, endorsed the products. He said there is need to improve bankers’ knowledge of operational risk. He said: “The management of operational risk needs to be improved and we know that one of the problems that affected the banking industry in the past was almost a complete failure of risk management. We must enhance the quality of banks in Nigeria through good risk management and corporate governance using proper regulatory frameworks.”

    The FITC said the e-recruitment portal presents saves the recruitment managers a lot of time and provides an avenue for the applicant to interact with the right employers. It said that the Virtual library was initiated to complement its other human capacity development efforts.

    The Virtual library also has FITC-books, which is a reporting of publications by the institute while virtual learning is a product derived from several years of intensive industry relevant, user friendly design and layers of testing by experts.

     

  • FITC to launch new products

    The Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC), a special purpose professional services firm owned by the Nigerian Bankers’ Committee will launch new products on May 17 in Lagos.

    The products include FITC Virtual Learning, FITC E-recruitment, FITC Virtual library and the Nigerian version of the IFC Corporate Governance and Board Leadership Training Curriculum.

    In a statement, the institution said the products are part of the organisation’s transformation agenda started late 2009.

    “The products are aimed at enhancing FITC’s service delivery in line with emerging situations of its stakeholders as well as on-going reforms in the broader Financial Services Sector and national economy, for global competitiveness,” its Director, Dr.  Lucy Surhyel Newman said.

    He said the new products is part of the transformation agenda being implemented by the management of the organisation.

    “The first phase of the transformation, which started since 2009, involved FITC’s internal capacity and brand alignment to deliver on its brand promises to internal and external stakeholders, thus making FITC a high impact special purpose organisation nationally, regionally and globally,” she said.

    Explaining the rationale for the introduction of the products, Newman said the virtual learning will serve as an alternative medium for delivery of some of its training programmes in a timely, convenient and more accessible manner while the e-recruitment portal is designed to enable job seekers to submit their resume online to the organisation’s website and facilitate faster candidates’ selection process at optimal cost and from any part of the world.

     

     

     

  • FITC to unveil products

    The Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC), a special purpose professional services firm owned by the Nigerian Bankers’ Committee, is billed to introduce new products soon.

    The products include FITC Virtual Learning, FITC E-recruitment, FITC Virtual library and the Nigerian version of the IFC Corporate Governance & Board Leadership Training Curriculum.

    In a statement, the firm said the products, which will be launched in Lagos on May 17, are part of the organisation’s transformation agenda started late 2009.

    “The products are aimed at enhancing FITC’s service delivery in line with emerging situations of its stakeholders as well as on-going reforms in the broader Financial Services Sector and national economy, for global competitiveness,” it said.

    Managing Director, FITC, Dr. Lucy Surhyel Newman, said the introduction of the new products is part of the transformation agenda being implemented by the management of the organisation.

    “The first phase of the transformation, which started since 2009, involved FITC’s internal capacity and brand alignment to deliver on its brand promises to internal and external stakeholders, thus making FITC a high impact special purpose organisation nationally, regionally and globally,” she said.

    Explaining the rationale for the introduction of the products, Newman said the virtual learning will serve as an alternative medium for delivery of some of its training programmes in a timely, convenient and more accessible manner while the e-recruitment portal is designed to enable job seekers submit their resume online to the organisation’s website and facilitate faster candidates’ selection process at optimal cost and from any part of the world.

    The library will provide avenue for its users and those interested in the e-library facility to have access to approved journals and books online.