These companies get highest NGX sanctions across 59 breaches in 2025, 2026

Twenty-two listed companies were sanctioned for late filing of interim/unaudited financial statements (UFS), while 31 default filings on audited financial statements (AFS) drew additional penalties, bringing the total number of NGX default-filing breaches in the 2025 and 2026 cycles to 59, with cumulative sanctions of N325.47 million.

This is according to NGX RegCo’s Schedule 6 disclosures, published under the Exchange’s Rules for Filing of Accounts and Treatment of Default Filing.

To keep the focus largely on 2025 and 2026 filing breaches, a single 2023 AFS penalty involving Mutual Benefits Assurance’s N53.64 million sanction has been excluded here.

Insurance companies dominate the list of highest-sanctioned firms, led by International Energy Insurance and Universal Insurance, both of which appear more than once across the AFS and UFS categories.

The 10 highest-sanctioned companies:

International Energy Insurance (IEI) Plc drew the single highest cumulative sanction in review period totaling N56 million across three breaches:

N28.2 million for its 2024 AFS default (filed 30 September 2025) plus N27.8 million across two 2025 UFS defaults (Q1 and Q2, both filed 30 September 2025).

Universal Insurance — N41.3 million: N22.0 million for its 2024 AFS default (filed 2 September 2025) plus N19.3 million across its 2025 Q1 and Q2 UFS defaults, both filed 2 September 2025.

Regency Alliance Insurance — N27.5 million: The most frequently sanctioned company, appearing across both AFS years (N2.5m for 2025, N9.8m for 2024) and four separate UFS filings spanning 2025 and 2026 (N15.2m combined).

Legend Internet — N16.8 million: Two 2026 defaults: N9.2 million for its Q2 filing (submitted 1 June 2026) and N7.6 million for its Q3 filing (submitted 14 August 2026).

Oando Plc — N18.3 million: N10.4 million for its 2025 AFS default (filed 6 July 2026) plus N7.9 million for its 2024 AFS default (filed 4 June 2025).

Jaiz Bank — N22.0 million: N4.5 million (2025 AFS) plus N9.6 million (2024 AFS) plus N1.6 million (2026 Q1 UFS) plus N6.3 million (2025 Q1 UFS).

Cornerstone Insurance — N19.9 million: N7.8 million (2025 AFS), N6.6 million (2024 AFS), and N1.9 million (2026 Q1 UFS), plus N3.6 million (2025 Q1 UFS).

Caverton Offshore Support Group — N19.2 million: N11.4 million for its 2025 AFS default (filed 11 July 2026) plus N7.8 million for its 2026 Q1 UFS default (filed 17 July 2026).

Prestige Assurance — N16.6 million: N4.5 million (2025 AFS), N5.1 million (2024 AFS), and N7.0 million combined across its 2025 Q1 and Q2 UFS defaults.

Fidelity Bank — N14.0 million: N4.2 million for its 2025 AFS default, plus N9.8 million across two 2025 UFS defaults (Q2 and Q3).

What the data is saying: Audited Financial Statements

Audited Financial Statements (AFS) sanctions for 2024 and 2025 total N186.4 million across 31 default filings:

• 2025 AFS: 12 companies, N59.1 million in penalties. Caverton Offshore Support Group recorded the largest single penalty at N11.4 million, followed by Oando at N10.4 million.
• 2024 AFS: 19 companies, N127.3 million in penalties — more than double the 2025 total. International Energy Insurance led at N28.2 million, followed by Universal Insurance at N22.0 million.

Interim/Unaudited Financial Statements (UFS):

UFS breaches span the 2025 and 2026 filing cycles, totaling N139.07 million across 28 default filings by 22 companies:

• 2025 UFS: N103.20 million across 14 companies, led by International Energy Insurance (N27.8m) and Universal Insurance (N19.3m).
• 2026 UFS: N35.87 million across 9 companies (10 entries, as Legend Internet appears twice), led by Legend Internet (N16.8m) and Caverton Offshore Support Group (N7.8m).

More insights:

What separates the top 10 from the rest of the default list is repetition rather than a single large fine.

Nine of the ten highest-sanctioned companies above appear more than once across the AFS and UFS categories — only Legend Internet’s N16.8 million is concentrated entirely within a single filing year (2026), and even that spans two separate quarterly defaults.

• International Energy Insurance and Universal Insurance alone account for N97.3 million, or roughly 30% of the entire N325.47 million in 2025–2026 sanctions.
• Insurance-sector names — International Energy Insurance, Universal Insurance, Regency Alliance, Cornerstone, and Prestige Assurance — occupy five of the ten highest-sanctioned positions.

Only three banks were sanctioned including: Jaiz Bank, Sterling Financial Holdings, and Fidelity Bank — with Jaiz Bank and Fidelity Bank both making the top 10 through repeated defaults rather than a single large penalty.

What you should know:

These are default-filing sanctions under Schedule 6 of the NGX RegCo’s X-Compliance report. NGX rules require audited financial statements within 90 days of a company’s financial year-end and interim/unaudited statements within 30 days of each quarter’s close, with penalties applying automatically once a default is recorded.

• The 2024 AFS cycle remains the single costliest filing year in the X-Compliance report, generating more in penalties (N127.3 million) than the 2025 AFS and 2026 UFS cycles combined.
• Repeat defaults among mid-tier insurers, with International Energy Insurance and Universal Insurance both appearing at the top of the AFS and UFS default rankings, calls for stricter regulatory scrutiny in subsequent X-Compliance updates.
• This pattern is not new. Nairametrics reported in April 2026 that the NGX had slammed a cumulative N562.6 million in penalties on 32 firms over 2025 filing breaches, with audited statement defaults accounting for roughly N371.8 million and unaudited breaches contributing about N190.7 million.
• Some repeat offenders flagged by Nairametrics in previous reports have defaulted again.
• A separate Nairametrics report in February 2026 found that NGX RegCo had imposed N378 million in fines on 13 listed insurers alone, with the sector accounting for more than 70% of total compliance breaches that cycle.

Not every sanctioned company remains in default. Mutual Benefits Assurance told Nairametrics in March 2026 that it had since regularised its outstanding filings and was fully compliant with NGX listing rules.