REQUEST by the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) to takes disciplinary action against Stanbic IBTC Holding Company Plc (SIBTCH) has been rejected by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
According to CBN, FRCN did not follow due process in the matter.
In a letter dated November 2, 2015, addressed to the Executive Secretary of FRCN, CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, explained that the banking sector regulator failed to consult with the central bank throughout the process of its investigation.
Emefiele explained that the announcement by the FRCN on SIBTCH was not only capable of eroding investor confidence, but inimical to financial system stability.
FRCN had sanctioned the bank over its audited accounts for 2013 and 2014 and suspended the Financial Reporting Numbers of the bank’s chairman, Mr. Atedo Peterside, and its chief executive, Mrs. Sola David-Borha, and also barred them forthwith from vouching for the integrity of any financial statements in Nigeria.
The FRCN also suspended two other directors — Mr. Arthur Oginga and Dr. Daru Owei — for attesting to what it termed the “misleading” 2013 and 2014 financial accounts of Stanbic IBTC, as well as Ayodele Othihiwa of KPMG Professional Services for his firm’s alleged complicity in the infractions highlighted in the financial reports for the two-year period.
In a related development, FRCN ordered the directors of SIBTCH to withdraw the financial statements of the holding company (Holdco) for 2013 and 2014 and restate them in accordance with the provisions of Section 64 (2) of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria Act and Regulation 21 of the FRCN, coupled with a fine of N1 billion.
