CBN revokes licences of 132 Microfinance banks, others

The Central Bank of Nigeria has revoked the operating licences of 132 microfinance banks, 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.

They were also alleged to have “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 four primary mortgage banks whose licences were revoked are Resort Savings & Loans, Safetrust Mortgage Bank, Adamawa Savings & Loans and Kogi Savings & Loans.

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The finance companies whose licences were revoked include HHL Invest & Trust Limited, TFS Finance Limited and Treasures & Trust Limited.

Meanwhile, some of the microfinance banks listed include Bluewhales Microfinance Bank, Igangan Microfinance Bank, Mainsail Microfinance Bank, Everest Microfinance Bank, Merit Microfinance Bank, Musharaka Microfinance Bank, Nopov Microfinance Bank, among others.

The gazette showed that 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.