First City Monument Bank (FCMB) has officially responded to the sanction imposed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over Treasury Single Account (TSA) Funds.
The statement issued by the bank reads:
“Yesterday, the Central Bank of Nigeria announced a temporary suspension of FCMB along with eight other commercial banks from access to the foreign exchange market.
This suspension is based on the Treasury Single Account Directive, which stops banks
from holding funds on behalf of government entities and instead, effect daily remittances to the CBN. For our bank, this scenario is based on our non-payment/transfer of the remaining $125mio NNPC fund with us to TSA.
As a financial institution with strong corporate governance rules, we have always fully disclosed the outstanding TSA funds in our books and have continued to work assiduously to fulfill our outstanding obligations.
The members of the NNPC Management Team have been kept fully in the picture on the funds. This development is really because of lack of foreign exchange availability and the prevailing fall in oil prices rather than concealment or willful non-compliance by FCMB. It is actually a widespread industry issue.
In conjunction with the other institutions, we are working closely with the Central Bank of Nigeria for an amicable and mutually beneficial resolution of this scenario. As an institution, our fundamentals remain strong, our franchise is still growing and we remain firmly committed to our professional values”.
