The Central Bank of Nigeria has revoked the licences of 179 microfinance banks in the country, as well as four primary mortgage banks and three finance companies.
This was disclosed in the official gazette of the Federal Government, which was published on the website of the CBN on Tuesday.
The gazette said that the licences of the financial institutions were revoked because they “ceased to carry on, in Nigeria, the type of business for which their licences were issued for a continuous period of six months; failed to fulfil or comply with the conditions subject to which their licences were granted; or failed to comply with the obligations imposed upon them by the Central Bank of Nigeria in accordance with the provisions of Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020, Act No. 5.”
The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, revoked the licences in the exercise of the powers conferred on the Central Bank of Nigeria under Section 12 of BOFIA 2020, Act No.5.
The microfinance banks include; Atlas Microfinance Bank, Bluewhales Microfinance Bank, Everest Microfinance Bank, Igangan Microfinance Bank, Mainsail Microfinance Bank, Merit Microfinance Bank, Minna Microfinance Bank, Musharaka Microfinance Bank, Nopov Microfinance Bank, Ohon Microfinance Bank, and others.
Finance companies whose licences were revoked include HHL Invest & Trust Limited, TFS Finance Limited and Treasures & Trust Limited while the four primary mortgage banks whose licenses were revoked were Resort Savings & Loans, Safetrust Mortgage Bank, Adamawa Savings & Loans and Kogi Savings & Loans.
Meanwhile, the licences of another set of 47 microfinance banks were also revoked by the CBN, which brings the total of affected microfinance banks to 179.
The official gazette for the last batch stated that the banks have “Either remained inactive, insolvent, failed to render returns, closed shop, or ceased to carry on the type of banking business for which they were licensed for more than six months in contravention of the Banks and other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA), 2020 and the Revised Regulatory and Supervisory Guidelines for Microfinance Banks in Nigeria.”
Some of the affected financial institutions include; Evangel Microfinance Bank, Dominion Microfinance Bank, Anya Microfinance Bank, Akwengwu Microfinance Bank, Fadama Farmers Microfinance Bank, Sal-Fol Microfinance Bank, Mautech Microfinance Bank, Wase Microfinance Bank, Smartmicro Microfinance Bank, Amba Microfinance Bank, Bridge House Microfinance Bank, Moneywell Microfinance Bank, Otukpo Microfinance Bank and others.