CBN’s crackdown on bank debtors pays off

The noose tightened on a category of bank debtors are already yielding dividend as some of them are beginning to fall heads over heel to redeem their obligation but banking industry watchers insist on full disclosure of the deal between the Central Bank of Nigeria (which takes the credit for the repayment) and the debtors, reports Festus Akanbi

From all indications, the name-and-shame tactics employed by the Central Bank of Nigeria to rattle some delinquent bank debtors appear to be paying off. This is because after the initial criticisms which greeted the failure of the CBN and the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) to reconcile bank debtors’ list, some of the debtors are said to be responding to the crackdown initiated by the CBN although some members of the banking community are raising eyebrows over the nature of the settlement arrangements between the debtors and AMCON.

The debtors list released to banks last month had sparked off a raft of denials and counter claims by some of the companies and individuals whose names featured prominently on the list of those to be axed for their failure to redeem their indebtedness to banks. However, the apex bank and AMCON were said to have since reconciled their lists, paving the way for the recent moves by some of the debtors to clear their debts.

Banking industry analysts, who responded to the sudden desperation of a number of debtors to redeem their image by paying up in the past few weeks, said despite the initial dust raised by the restriction placed on this category of businessmen and firms, some of the debtors have realised there was no other way of staying in business other than to meet their obligations to the banks. They contended that credit for the renewed negotiations between some of the debtors and AMCON on how to repudiate the debts should go to the CBN for tightening the noose on bank debtors.

AMCON Recoups N800 billion
One cheering news last week was the disclosure by the AMCON that to date, the corporation has recovered or restructured over N800 billion. A report quoting AMCON MD Mustapha Chike-Obi disclosed that to further demonstrate the success of its recovery efforts, Net Oil and Cross River State Government are out of the debtors’ list, having redeemed their debt obligation to AMCON. “Net Oil and Cross River State Government are no longer direct obligor to AMCON,” Chike-Obi said. By the end of 2011, AMCON had acquired over N3 trillion non-performing loans and recapitalised all the banks in grave situation, to the point where they have enough capital to fund their vital role of providing credit to the economy.

Big Relief
According to banking sector analysts who are optimistic about the success of the current debt recovery exercise, the recent liquidation of the N141 billion debt owed AMCON by the Chairman of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited and Forte Oil Plc, Mr. Femi Otedola, would go a long way to guarantee stability to the banking industry because it has opened the floodgate of similar repudiation of old debts by some of those firms whose names appeared on the list.

They explained that although AMCON had bought the toxic debts from the respective banks, the repayment of the total amount of money has vindicated CBN on its name-and-shame tactic even as there were reports last week that other sundry debtors are holding talks with AMCON on how to repudiate their debts. Some of those in crucial talks with AMCON on how to exit the debtors list, according to sources, included firms in the oil marketing sector. However, AMCON is said to be keeping the list of debtors currently negotiating with it secret until the conclusion of such negotiations.

The CBN had, in a move aimed at strengthening financial stability and instilling discipline in the banking sector, blacklisted 113 companies as well as their principal shareholders and directors, where the outstanding value of the loans purchased by AMCON amounted to N5 billion or more, from taking further credit from banks until the full liquidation of the agreed indebtedness.

Eyebrows Over Negotiation
AMCON had recently confirmed it has approved the transfer of Otedola’s assets as well as an undisclosed sum of cash to the corporation as full and final settlement for his liabilities although details of the deal are still being kept under wraps.

Meanwhile, some critics of the ongoing deal over the debts, especially the deal with Zenon Petroleum debt, said AMCON owes the banking community a detailed explanation over the arrangement it entered into with Otedola. This they, argued will give both the Corporation and the Zenon boss, a clean bill of health considering the worry over the true values of assets forfeited in the deal. Similar worry was contained in the position of the House of Representatives, which insisted that the negotiation over the Zenon’s debt should be made public. The House of Representatives said in a statement that it will probe the payment of N140.9billion to AMCON by the Zenom chairman. However, industry sources said apart from Otedola, other debtors are already reacting to the CBN hammer by surrendering their assets to meet their obligations to AMCON.

According to a source, some of the debtors who could not raise the needed cash are already following the footsteps of Otedola by surrendering their assets which include property scattered all over the country. Some are even said to have expressed their readiness to trade off their luxury items including private aircraft and yachts in order to clear their names. On why AMCON is silent on the identities of the affected companies since they have shown readiness to pay, the source said the corporation was just being careful until the deals are finalised before it gives them a clean bill of health. The source disclosed that because of the heat brought to bear on them by the publication of the list and the realisation that access to new facility had been effectively blocked by the CBN memo, some of the debtors have gone as far as withdrawing some of the cases they instituted against CBN and AMCON from court.

In the opinion of a Lagos-based financial analyst, Mr. Bode Olatunde, CBN should be commended for its courage to publish the debtors’ list, which also contains names of powerful persons that were perceived to be close to the corridor of power including some state governments.

No Free Loans
“The truth is that the CBN’s list has shown that we are all equal before the law. Nobody had thought the apex bank could crack down on some of those businessmen whose names featured on the list. I believe that for once, the culture of impunity is destroyed in the business circle and this will go a long way in reminding prospective borrowers from the banks that they must certainly account for whatever facility they draw from the banks.
“I also believe that this development will impact positively on banks’ finances now that everybody knows that the days of free loans are over.

“This shows that the CBN does not have any sacred cow and all it is saying is that people should honour their obligations,” Olatunde said.
He explained that the debtors’ list was released to enable banks know those who they should not lend to because the banks will only know those they are exposed to. It is also to prevent predator borrowers who move from one bank to another using the same collateral to borrow from different banks.

He added that the CBN’s action clearly showed the regulators meant well since the money used by AMCON to buy off these debts from banks are tax payers’ funds

A leading member of the Financial Market Dealers Association of Nigeria, who would not want to be quoted, said the policy of naming and shaming will sanitise the industry: banks would no longer give out credits without securing it and debtors would also be willing to honour their obligations. And, according to him, given the fact that some of these debtors have gone to court to technically delay payments, this is a clarion call to the judiciary to speedily facilitate the cases so that tax payers’ money will not go down the drain.

Similarly, some bank shareholders have expressed support for the decision to blacklist those that are indebted to AMCON to the tune of N5 billion and above.

President Renaissance Shareholders Association, Mr. Olufemi Timothy, said: “It is a very good development. A situation where someone is owing and you give that person some concession and still he is not willing to pay, I think the best thing to do is to stop that person from getting further credit.

“The decision by the central bank is commendable and we must all support the CBN. The policy should be fully implemented and should not be politicised.”

President, Nigeria Shareholders Solidarity Association (NSSA), Chief Timothy Adesiyan, described the latest move by the central bank as a major antidote to banking failure and further step in the protection of their investments. According to him, blacklisting the debtors would make them to pay up.

 

 

 

 

 
Source: This Day

One Comment

1. 

   Pure

   October 14, 2012 at 4:52 pm

   Nice one SLS!