Less than two weeks after it sanctioned two major banks for flouting Federal Government directives on Treasury Single Account, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has imposed a fine of N4 billion on Skye Bank for concealing funds belonging to Ministries,Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
In a circular from CBN, addressed to the Chairman, Board of Directors of Skye Bank, the apex bank slapped Skye Bank with a fine of N4,005,228,976.35,which it said represents 10 percent of the concealed funds belonging to Federal Government MDAs.
Skye bank chairman, Ayeni
The circular said the amount would be debited from Skye Bank’s current account with CBN.
The CBN circular obtained from industry sources, showed that Skye Bank failed to report MDAs’ balances amounting to N40,052,289,769.47, as at October 23, 2015, more than a month after the TSA deadline had expired.
The Federal Government had directed that balances/ receipts due to the government or its agencies be paid into a TSA domiciled in the CBN except otherwise expressly approved.
The TSA is a bank account or a set of linked bank accounts through which the government transacts all its receipts and payments and gets a consolidated view of its cash position at any given time.
A September 15 deadline was given for full compliance with the directive.
CBN’s hammer had earlier fallen on two major banks- First Bank of Nigeria Limited (FirstBank) and United bank for Africa (UBA) Plc for failing to comply with the directive on TSA.
While a fine of N1,877,409,905.12 was imposed on FirstBank, UBA was fined N2,942,189,651.45.
The fines imposed on the two banks represented 5 per cent of unremitted funds.
Unlike UBA and First Bank that were sanctioned two weeks ago, a higher percentage (10%) of fine was
imposed on Skye Bank because it shrouded the MDAs’ funds until the funds were uncovered by CBN examiners during a visit to the bank.
