The Central Bank of Nigeria on Thursday asked the National Assembly to grant it more powers to revoke the licences of banks convicted for economic or financial crimes under the Economic and Financial and Crimes Commission Act.

It also sought powers to review from time to time, the minimum capital requirement of all banks operating in the country. The current capital base requirement of a bank is N25bn, which was introduced by the former governor of the CBN, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo four years ago.

The apex bank made these proposals in a memorandum it submitted to the House of Representatives Committee on Banking and Currency, headed by Mr. Ogbuefi Ozomgbachi, during a public hearing on a bill to amend the EFCC Act and re-enact the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act.

Others powers sought include, wide powers to arrange mergers and acquisition that might lead to change in the control of a bank; prescribing an appropriate capital adequacy ratio to any bank depending on the level of its operation; and appointment of approved auditors and setting stringent measures that would deal with insider lending.

According to the CBN, there is the need to expand the conditions for revocation of a bank‘s licence following the recent revelations of unprecedented failures associated with weak internal controls and corporate governance in banks. It noted that there was an urgent need to refocus and strengthen its regulatory capacity for effective service delivery in line with global best practices.

The CBN said, “It is considered necessary to expand the conditions for revocation of a banking licence to include conviction of a bank for economic or financial crimes under designated laws.

“It is, therefore, proposed that a conviction of a bank for an offence under the provisions of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act, the Money Laundering Act, Failed Banks (Recovery of Debts) and Financial Malpractices in Banks Act, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation Act, Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act or any other law dealing wit economic or financial crime, shall constitute a ground for revocation of a banking licence.”

(Source:Punch)