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Tag: IBTC

  • We pay N1.8bn to over 44,000 retirees monthly – IBTC

    The Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited says it pays approximately N1.8 billion in retirement benefit to over 44,000 retirees monthly.

    Mr Oladele Sotubo, the Executive Director (Investment) in Stanbic IBTC Pension, made this known during the first edition of the Employers Forum of Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited held on Thursday in Benin.

    Sotubo said over N261 billion had been paid to retirees since IBTC commenced operations in 2006, adding that the company had over 1.5 million retirement savings account holders nationwide.

    “Assets under management are in excess of N1.88 trillion. I have reeled out these figures to emphasise something; with us, you are in safe hands,” he said.

    Sotubo said that the forum became necessary to engage actively with employers on the importance and impact of their role in pension administration and retirement process.

    ”Part of the process includes helping workers have retirement plans through the opening of retirement savings accounts and regular remittance of their contributions.

    ”The overall aim of the forum is to increase participation by more Nigerians.

    ”This initiative was launched in 2014 to serve as a platform for sharing knowledge and information between employers and pension experts,” Sotubo said

    According to him, the Contributory Pension Scheme had maintained rapid growth since it was inaugurated in 2004

  • Insurgency: IBTC supports child-victims with N12m

    Insurgency: IBTC supports child-victims with N12m

    Right children who are victims of the insurgency in the Northeast have been given N1.5 million each by Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC, to help them continue and complete their education.

    Beyond the education endowment, the child-victims were fitted with prosthetic limbs.

    Stabic IBTC Plc said it is committed to helping children and the youth lead productive lives that would enable them contribute to the development of the society.

    This commitment was restated during its annual Signature Corporate and Investment Initiative and Charity Walk held on Saturday, 24 September 2016, tagged ‘Together4 A Limb’, where underserved children victims of the Boko Haram insurgency, were the primary beneficiaries.

    A 3-kilometre charity walk aimed at raising awareness and awakening public consciousness of children without limbs was flagged off by the First Lady, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, who was represented by the wife of the Zamfara State Governor, HajiyaAsmauYari.

    This was immediately followed by cheque presentations of education trust fund of N1.5 million to each of the eight beneficiary children who had been successfully fitted with artificial limbs.

    Six of the eight children beneficiaries present at the charity walk were presented cheques by HajiyaYari while two others were presented at a separate ceremony. Last year, five children benefitted from the initiative and received education trust fund and prostheses, bringing to 13 the number of children beneficiaries so far.

    According to the Chief Executive of Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC, Mrs. Sola David-Borha, “the initiative is an important part of the Group’s corporate social investment, which focuses on health, education and economic empowerment.”

    She said “while the charity walk is important to draw attention to the plight of children who have limb losses, of greater benefit to the children, their parents/guardians and the society are the prostheses and education trusts Stanbic IBTC is giving to the beneficiaries.”

    According to her, “this event is a very important Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative and one of the ways by which Stanbic IBTC contributes meaningfully to the society. Through the provision of prostheses and education trusts to indigent children who have suffered limb losses, we are assisting young Nigerians to enable them get on with their lives in a productive manner,”

    David-Borha said “the education trust will provide for the education of the beneficiaries for as far as they are willing and able to go and will enable them realize their God-given potentials.”

    The First Lady through her representative HajiyaYari commended Stanbic IBTC for the initiative and said it was a wonderful cause that should be emulated by other corporate organizations and well-meaning Nigerians. She said she was particularly pleased with the initiative because she is passionate about children.

    According to her, “I feel honoured to be a part of this wonderful cause. Reaching out and helping children with limbs losses and giving them a new lease of life to become worthwhile individuals has gone a long way to show that Nigeria is indeed ready for change,” she said.

    David-Borha assured that the Stanbic IBTC Group will continue to impact the lives of children and society as much as possible through its CSR initiatives.

  • Stanbic IBTC urges court to dismiss FRC’s objections

    Stanbic IBTC urges court to dismiss FRC’s objections

    Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc Tuesday urged the Federal High Court in Lagos to dismiss objections by the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) against its suit.

    The plaintiff said the objections were like “a storm in a tea cup”.

    The plaintiff said FRC, since August 3, had been investigating its audited accounts for the year ended December 2014.

    The investigations concern liabilities accrued in the plaintiff’s 2014 accounts in respect of franchise fees owed to Standard Bank of South Africa, the registration of which it said has been pending before the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) since 2011.

    The plaintiff said FRC labelled the franchise agreement as illegal, and invited IBTC Holdings’ Chief Executive Officers to appear before it.

    Following a meeting on October 16, the council informed the plaintiff that it committed criminal offences and that it would be reported to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

    FRC then asked the entire Stanbic IBTC board to meet with the council to know the extent of the board involvement in the matter.

    Stanbic IBTC sued, praying the court to determine whether FRC acted beyond its powers.

    It also sought a declaration that failure to register a “registrable” agreement under the NOTAP Act is not a criminal offence.

    Arguing FRC’s objections Tuesday, its lawyer Olusina Sofola (SAN) said IBTC did not comply with Section 66 (3) of the FRC Act which states that anyone dissatisfied with any decision should appeal to its Technical Committee.

    “All the internal remedies must be exhausted, which they have not done here,” he said, urging the court to strike out the suit on that basis.

    Besides, Sofola said Stanbic IBTC was seeking to review FRC’s decisions; therefore they should have brought an application for a judicial review, which renders the plaintiff’s originating summons incompetent.

    The lawyer said the bank should have sued the Minister of Trade who made the regulations on the basis of which sanctions were imposed on the plaintiff, not FRC who merely implemented them.

    But Stanbic IBTC’s lawyer, Prof Fidelis Oditah (SAN) said the plaintiff did not need to join the minister.

    “We don’t accept that the minister should be joined. The presence of the minister is not required to determine the questions of law raised. We urge the court to dismiss the objection for being a storm in a tea cup,” he said.

    According to him, the objections were “all hopeless” and should be dismissed.

    The plaintiff, in its originating summons, is asking the court to determine among others whether FRC has the power to impose a fine of N1 billion on it.

    FRC had sanctioned Stanbic IBTC over its audited accounts for 2013 and 2014.

    It suspended the Financial Reporting Numbers of the bank’s chairman, Mr. Atedo Peterside, and its chief executive, Mrs. Sola David-Borha.

    It also barred them from vouching for the integrity of any financial statements in Nigeria.

    It based its sanctions on issues raised by the bank’s minority shareholders led by the Mahtani brothers who own the Churchgate conglomerate, to some other regulatory agencies such as NOTAP, SEC and CBN, among others.

    In its Originating Summons, Stanbic IBTC sought a declaration that failure to register an agreement under the NOTAP Act is not a criminal offence.

    It prayed the court to hold that failure to register an agreement under the NOTAP Act does not render the contract illegal and unenforceable or render it null and void.

    It also sought a declaration that the effect of non-registration of an agreement under the NOTAP Act is as stated in section 7 of the NOTAP Act, namely to prevent payment or remittance of money to any person outside Nigeria in respect of the unregistered agreement.

    It sought a declaration that FRC has no power to dictate to a public interest entity the types of commercial agreements that it may enter into in the conduct of its business.

    Justice Buba adjourned till Monday for judgment.

  • Presidency threatens to sanction CBN over Stanbic IBTC

    Presidency threatens to sanction CBN over Stanbic IBTC

    The presidency has threatened to sanction the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) if it is discovered that the errors observed in the financial statements of Stanbic IBTC are found to be true.

    This is contained in a letter written on Tuesday 10th November, 2015 by the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) to the CBN governor in reaction to the earlier controversial letter written by the CBN.

    According to the FRC, the Presidency has promised to wield the big stick against the CBN “because the CBN approved the said financial statement before they were issued.”

    The explosive letter from the FRC had indicated that a meeting had been convened by the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Alhaji Abba Kyari between the CBN governor Mr. Godwin Emefiele and the Executive Secretary of the FRC Mr. Jim Obaze in the presidential villa on the 29th of October, 2015.

    According to the letter, the Chief of Staff had instructed both the CBN and the FRC to come up with a harmonized position as two regulators on the review of the Stanbic IBTC’s financial statement for the years ended 31st December, 2013 and 2014.

    At the end of the meeting, the Chief of Staff directed that the CBN “should write to the management of Stanbic IBTC, directing them to stop all negative publicity being sponsored against the FRC. He directed you (CBN Governor) to send a copy of that letter to me (Jim Obaze of FRC and up Up till now, you are yet to send a copy of that letter to me).

    Abba Kyari also directed that “a team of CBN should visit Stanbic IBTC to review the records again to know whether the errors were due to oversight or incompetence or compromise; that the FRC should secure a written position on the matter from the external auditors of Stanbic IBTC and that the CBN Governor and the FRC Executive Secretary should agree on a date to meet thereafter and review the document received and reach a final decision.”

    The FRC in its letter accused the CBN of acting in bad faith and that the actions of the CBN were designed to embarrass the FRC. Obaze in his letter said the CBN in its letter had cleared Stanbic IBTC and maligned the FRC.

    On the financial issues raised by the CBN, Obazee in his letter to the Emefiele said the CBN “mixed up issues and eventually ended up with very wrong and hasty conclusions.” The FRC said its regulatory decision was for the purchase and assignment of a banking application software request made to NOTAP by Stanbic IBTC on July 3rd 2013 “which is another transaction other than the one the CBN letter addressed.”

    FRC then “wondered why the CBN is condoning and vehemently defending an unwholesome disclosure and reporting practice such as this. The only plausible reason will be that the CBN actually approved these financial statements.”

    Wrong classification of items of assets and liabilities (two of the three major elements of financial statements) the FRC said “could affect the economic decision of users, which implies that: “assets and liabilities figures do not reflect what they actually are and the financial statement misrepresents the true state of the company’s affairs.

    Qualitative characteristics of verifiability and comparability have been compromised; and the financial statements do not actually comply with IFRS.”

    Jim Obazee wrote that the FRC would “make bold to say that we acted within the provisions of the FRC Act, 2011 and the Inspectorate Unit Guidelines/Regulatory 2014. Since, the FRC is neither a department of the CBN nor a reporting agency to the CBN, we do not owe the CBN any explanation in this respect,” the letter concluded.

  • CBN: FRC report on Stanbic IBTC faulty

    CBN: FRC report on Stanbic IBTC faulty

    •Apex bank lambasts FRC

    •‘Due process wasn’t followed’

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) came down hard on the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) saying the Council’s indictment of  Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc (SIBTCH) is baseless and lacking in merit.

    The CBN Governor, Godin Emefiele who registered the bank’s displeasure with the Council in a letter addressed to its Executive Secretary/Chief Executive, Jim Obazee, said the body was reckless and hasty in sanctioning the bank and its directors for alleged misstatement of the company’s 2013 and 2014 accounts.

    Emefiele absolved the bank’s management and board of almost all the Council’s allegations and regretted that the Council did not follow due process stipulated in the FRC Act No.6 of 2011 in punishing SIBTCH.

    “In the light of the foregoing facts, which clearly show that FRCN did not follow due process, the CBN regrets to inform that it is unable to accede to FRC’s request to take disciplinary action against SIBTCH. Indeed, the CBN does not see any reason to advise or compel SIBTCH to obey the sanctions meted to it by the FRCN,” the apex bank said.

    For instance, the CBN said the final notice and regulatory decision by the Council were based on the FRC Act No.6 of 2011 and Regulation 21 of the FRC Guidelines/Regulation for Inspection and Monitoring Entities 2014.

    The CBN said contrary to the allegation of the FRC that Stanbic IBTC did not obtain approval from the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) for payment of affiliate software licence, its review showed that the bank actually obtained the necessary approval from NOTAP to pay affiliate software license from the Standard Bank South Africa, for the period of three years covering June 1, 2012 to 30th May 2015.

    “With regard to the allegation of non-disclosure of intangible assets in SIBTC’s 2013 and 2014 financials, we note that the bank adequately recognised the software as an intangible asset in its 2011 financials and sufficiently disclosed the disposal of the software in the 2012 financials. Consequently, the said software could not have been reported as an intangible asset in the succeeding years 2013 and 2014,” the CBN said.

    On the allegations of lumping several expense items under ‘Others’, the CBN said the items were not material enough to appear as line items in the income statement and that the non-disclosure of the items did not materially affect the true and fair view of the financial statements.

    It however agreed with the FRC that SIBTC erred in the classification of some line items. “However, the identified misclassifications did not understate or overstate its assets and liabilities did not understate or overstate its assets and liabilities, neither did it increase nor decrease its income or expenditure, such as would have caused a material misrepresentation of the financials,” the CBN said.

    Defending SIBTC, the apex bank said if the company used its judgment to capture donation of N275 million under ‘Others’ because it was of the opinion that it was not a charitable donation but a mandatory contribution towards the victims of terrorism in the country.

     

  • STANBIC IBTC ETF 30 distributes dividends to investors

    Investors in Stanbic IBTC Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) 30 will receive a payment of N1.56 per unit next week, according to official filing by the ETF promoter and manager, Stanbic IBTC Asset Management Limited (SIAML).

    The register of unitholders and transfer books of Stanbic IBTC ETF 30 is expected to be closed on Monday, October 26 while payment will be made on Friday October 30, 2015 to unitholders registered in the fund as at the close of business on Friday, October 23, 2015.

    Stanbic IBTC Asset Management Limited (SIAML), a wholly owned asset management subsidiary of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, had launched initial offering of 10 million units of the Stanbic IBTC ETF 30 at a price of N100 per unit. The offer was however oversubscribed and SIAML listed 11.447 million units valued at N11.447 billion.

    An Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) is an investment vehicle that tracks an index, a basket of assets, or a commodity but trades like regular shares on a stock exchange.

    The Stanbic IBTC ETF 30 invests 100 per cent of its assets in the same portfolio of securities that comprise the NSE 30 Index in proportion to their weightings in the underlying index. The objective of the Fund is to replicate as closely as possible the total return of the NSE 30 Index. The NSE 30 Index tracks the 30 most capitalised stocks on the NSE.

    Managing director, Stanbic IBTC Asset Management Limited (SIAML), Mr Olumide Oyetan, had explained that the NSE 30 Index comprises of the top 30 companies in terms of market capitalization. The index serves as the flagship benchmark for the stock market as it represents 92 per cent of the NSE’s market capitalization.

    He noted that the Fund represents a convenient and efficient way for investors to have access to the top 30 most capitalized and liquid stocks on the NSE, in a cost effective manner.

    He pointed out that the Stanbic IBTC ETF 30 will differentiate itself in the marketplace as a highly liquid and transparent investment adding that the financial services group would leverage on its extensive client base and brand name to promote Nigerian ETF to Nigerian and international investors.

     

     

    “Our target is to keep the expense ratio at one per cent. We are looking at growing this Fund to become one of the largest funds in the market,” Oyetan said.

     

     

  • Stanbic IBTC Pension is best Pension Fund Manager

    Stanbic IBTC Pension is best Pension Fund Manager

    Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited, a Pension Fund Administrator (PFA), has been named the Best Pension Fund Manager  in the Global Banking & Finance Review Awards.

    The awards, which were instituted in 2011, recognises achievements and innovations by companies in the global financial community, cutting across banking, Islamic finance, hedge funds, asset and wealth management, real estate, and corporate social responsibility, among others.

    Chief Executive of Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited, Dr. Demola Sogunle, said since the firm opened its doors nine years ago, its aim is to set higher standards in service delivery and ensure that their retirement savings account holders are well served as well as derive maximum value from their investments.

    He said the company is quite honoured to receive such a distinguished award showcasing its flagship role in nurturing the growth of Nigeria’s pension industry.

    Sogunle said as industry leader, the PFA would innovate and help to enhance industry best practices.

    He said part of this includes creating awareness about the benefits of retirement savings and helping workers plan for that eventuality.

    Sogunle disclosed that the company boasts of over one million retirement savings account (RSA) holders and assets under management in excess of N1 trillion, paying approximately N1.8 billion to almost 30,000 retirees monthly.

    He added that over N180 billion has been paid to retirees since the PFA commenced operations in 2006.

    He said: “Among innovations introduced by the PFA to enable clients experience excellent and convenient service delivery are the Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers mobile office; the first 24-hour multilingual call centre manned by personnel who speak the three major Nigerian languages – Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa; as well as Pidgin English.

    “A footprint of over 200 branches of Stanbic IBTC Bank where RSA clients can access pension service; Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers’ regional offices; as well as selected branches of Zenith Bank PLC. Other access points include Stanbic IBTC Bank ATMs, online service for RSA holders, email, SMS and the Pension Notes, which accompany hardcopy RSA statements sent to customers quarterly.”

    Stanbic IBTC Pension is a subsidiary of Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC, which is part of the Standard Bank Group, Africa’s largest bank by assets.

    Standard Bank Group is 151 years old and is based in 20 African countries.  Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC provides the financial services in three areas – Corporate and Investment Banking, Personal and Business Banking and Wealth Management.

  • Stanbic IBTC Bank boosts SMEs

    Stanbic IBTC Bank boosts SMEs

    IN its quest to build a strong and viable small and medium scale enterprises sector, Stanbic IBTC Bank, a member of the Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, organised a capacity building workshop for its clients operating in the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) sub-sector.

    The two-day seminar, held in Lagos, attracted over 400 participants.

    Justifying the need for the workshop, the bank said it was aimed at equipping SME operators with financial, marketing and management skills that they can readily deploy to transform their businesses and grow their bottomlines.

    “The SME sector is pivotal to the economic growth and development of any nation and Nigeria is no exception, which is why the seminar was conceived to avail SME operators exposure to modern and innovative marketing, financial and management skills that are useful to their businesses and which will help them to attract the necessary funding for growth,” Executive Director, Personal and Business Banking, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Obinnia Abajue, said.

    Abajue, who was represented by the Head of Business Banking, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Lloyd Onaghinon, stated that Stanbic IBTC Bank, backed by the rich heritage and know-how of the Standard Bank Group, is committed to building a strong SME base in Nigeria and one of the ways it hopes to achieve this is by empowering operators with the right business skills and adequate funding.

    Speaking further Abajue added that the course content and the resource persons, who are highly skilled and experienced, have been carefully chosen to ensure participants derive maximum benefits from the seminar. “We have streamlined the seminar course content to include essential topics such as building financial records, achieving success in marketing, business planning, and people – management, among others. The seminar is aunique offering by Stanbic IBTC to develop and sharpen participants’ business skills,” Abajue stressed.

  • Hundreds register for Glo Xchange in Edo

    Nigeria’s first mobile money super agent network, Glo Xchange, at the weekend, received a boost in Benin, the Edo State capital, when potential mobile money agents besieged the venue of the first training session organised by the company to take the innovative service to the hinterlands.

    Glo Xchange was launched in Lagos last week by Globacom in partnership with Firstmonie, Ecobank, Stanbic IBTC and Zenith Bank.

    Hundreds of people from the 18 local government areas of Edo State registered as agents of the mobile money network.

    Globacom’s Mobile Money Specialist, Alex Munia, who anchored the training, said Glo Xchange was a win-win platform for the agents, their customers and the beneficiaries of the money transferred through the m-wallet (mobile wallet).

    He said: “Glo Xchange will afford them the chance to key into a platform where many, especially in East Africa, had made a lot of money without borrowing from the banks to do business.”

    According to him, besides the commission that would accrue from the m-wallet transactions, the agents would have a lot of human traffic coming into their business premises to do the mobile money transfer and “get to know about other services the agents are rendering and patronise them accordingly”.

  • Union Assurance to unveil new owners soon

    Union Assurance Company Limited will soon unveil its new owners, its Managing Director, Godwin Odah, has said.

    Odah, who made this known at the Monthly Members Evening of the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) in Lagos, said the revelation would be  as soon as the approvals were obtained.

    Speaking on its parent company’s (Union Bank) divestment plan, he said following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) directives on universal banking, the bank is in the final stage of complying with the requirement by divesting its 93 per cent shareholding in Union Assurance.

    He said the company has been able to reduce its dependence on revenue from Union Bank Plc significantly from about 75 per cent in 2008 to 15 per cent to date.

    He said by way of numbers, the firm’s income from the brokers channel has grown from 12 per cent in 2009 to over 55 per cent.

    According to him, the management has also steered the company through the difficult years of the CBN’s intervention in the bank spanning from 2009 to 2012.

    Odah added that the firm has diversified its income base by deepening focus on opportunities outside the Union Bank Group by building credibility with brokers; aggressive expansion of Union Assurance foot prints of life retail with over 1,350 agents across the country and 24 full-fledged branches and six representative offices, among others.

    According to him, the company has however earmarked key strategic initiatives frunning from this year through 2018.

    He said these include the creation of a micro-insurance model that will enable it leverage affinity groups thereby achieving a lower acquisition cost for this important segment.

    He said: “We intend to participate in large transactions, particularly in the energy and power sectors, where the firm would seek to partner with big lenders such as FirstBank, Union Bank, Stanbic IBTC Bank and Standard Chartered Bank.’’

    Odah further said the firm will improve its brand visibility and awareness among the young and upwardly mobile middle class while service and product innovation will enable it deliver.

    He said: “We also aim to develop bespoke products that meet our clients’ risk and business demands; target segments within the emerging affluent markets; enlarge our retail force from 1,400 to at least 2,000 this year; create an online store with an improved business process that enables us deliver our products seamlessly across multi channels group and affinity lines. We will also deepen our relationship with the top tier brokers. Because of the complex nature of insurance, we will continue to play a major role in the industry, particularly in the commercial segment of our business.

    “The company will also effectively leverage extensive branch network,  to strengthen our growth in the retail and public sector, particularly among the growing states of Rivers, Delta, Akwa Ibom and Cross Rivers; improve on our employee knowledge, skill and ability and build capacity and technical competence in the big ticket businesses such as oil and gas, power, telecom.”

    He said this year and next year promise to produce interesting and exciting performance for the company as it transits through these phases.