CBN Revoke 132 Microfinance Bank License

The Central Bank of Nigeria has revoked the operating licences of 132 microfinance banks, along side four primary mortgage banks, and three finance companies in the country.

The revocation exercise was disclosed in the official gazette of the Federal Government published on the website of the CBN on Tuesday.

According to the gazette, 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.

Some affected banks were guilty of failure to fulfil or comply with regulatory conditions for operating as commercial banks upon which their licences stood in contravention of the provisions of Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020, Act No. 5.”

The four primary mortgage banks whose licences were revoked are Resort Savings & Loans, Safetrust Mortgage Bank, Adamawa Savings & Loans and Kogi Savings & Loans.

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.

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.