- Says Binance under SEC regulatory authority
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, has charged deposit money banks in the country to expedite action to increase their capital base from the current N25 billion.
The Governor gave the directive during the apex bank’s 294th meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee on Tuesday in Abuja when the MPC hiked the interest rate by 22.75 percent to 24.75 percent.
The apex bank chief said the MPC examined developments in the banking sector and expressed satisfaction that the industry remained stable.
The committee, however, said to guard against risk, commercial banks in the country should accelerate their recapitalisation efforts.
Cardoso said, “The MPC also reviewed developments in the banking system and noted that the industry remains safe, sound, and stable. The committee thus called on the bank to sustain its surveillance and ensure compliance of banks with existing regulatory and macro-potential guidelines.
“The MPC also enjoined the banks to expedite actions on the recapitalisation of banks to strengthen the system against potential risks in an increasingly globalised world.”
Last November, Cardoso, who assumed office two months earlier, had said commercial banks in the country would be directed to increase their capital base to service a $1 trillion economy muted by President Bola Tinubu.
The last time the CBN increased the capital base for banks was in 2005, when the current Anambra State Governor, Charles Soludo, was the apex bank chief.
The capital base was raised from ₦2 billion to ₦25 billion.
Meanwhile, the CBN Governor has excused himself from the affairs of the crypto exchange platform Binance, saying its regulation is under the purview of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Responding to a question on the CBN’s update on the cryptocurrency exchange platform which has come under the searchlight of the Federal Goverment since the MPC meeting in February when the CBN Governor disclosed that suspicious transaction worth $26 billion flowed through Binance, Cardoso said the CBN is not in charge but working in collaboration with other agencies to resolve the issues.
He stated that efforts by the apex bank in collaboration with the SEC, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Office of the National Security Adviser have been yielding positive outcomes in the last month.
“We consider ourselves as having the wherewithal to collaborate with other agencies of government and that is a very important function for us.
“About a month ago, we actually did have collaboration with law enforcement agencies, EFCC, the SEC and other regulatory bodies as well, and what came out of that, is a work in progress, but very positive as far as I can say.
“The NSA, we’ve been sharing information together. However, in this particular case, the responsibility for regulating cryptocurrency is not our role, it isn’t ours; it is strictly that of the Security and Exchange Commission, not our responsibility,” he said.
