‘NDIC prosecuted 55 directors, staff of micro finance banks in 2011’

THE Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) prosecuted 55 directors and staff of micro finance banks over their roles in the collapse of 19 micro finance banks in 2011 .
NDIC, in its 2011 annual report and statement of accounts released to the media in Abuja disclosed that as part of its efforts to sanitise the micro finance sub sector, about 55 directors, staff and related parties of 19 closed micro finance banks, who were found to be responsible for the collapse of their banks, were prosecuted in 2011 to serve as a deterrent to would-be fraudsters in the sub sector.
Following the revocation of operating licences of 103 micro finance banks in 2010, the corporation said it paid the aggregate sum of N2.024billion to about 70,424 depositors of the closed banks in August 2011 as against the N1billion paid in December 2010.
The NDIC also stated in the report that the amount paid represented about 41 per cent of the total insured amount of about N4.94billion,
During the year under review, the corporation said it continued with the payment of insured sums and liquidation dividends to uninsured depositors of all the banks in liquidation.
As of December 31, 2011, the NDIC said it paid a total of N6.681billion to 527,942 insured depositors while the sum of N73.55billion had been paid as liquidation dividend to 250,119 depositors.
On debt recovery activities, the NDIC said the cumulative recovery for the banks in liquidation since 1994 rose from about N21.756billion in 2010 to about N22.236billion in 2011, representing an increase of about two percent for the closed microfinance banks. As at December 31, 2011, the NDIC recovered N13.48million debt of closed microfinance banks.
To enhance the pace of debt recovery and enhance payments to uninsured depositors, the NDIC said it appointed a number of debt recovery agents in 2011.
Further more, the corporation said it offered to purchase 13 eligible bank assets with total book value of N3.85billion to the AMCON to boost recovery and facilitative payment of liquidation dividends to uninsured depositors and creditors of failed banks.
As part of its efforts to extend Deposit Insurance System(DIS) to Non Interest Bearing Banks, the NDIC said it continued to fine tune the developed frame work that would enable it extend DIS to non interest financial institutions that would be subsequently licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Tribune