The Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) has said it is investigating Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc for allegedly engaging in unapproved transactions with its foreign technical partners in the last four years.
FRCN Executive Secretary/CEO, Jim Obazee, who spoke yesterday in Abuja during a meeting with the Director-General, National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), Dan-Azumi Ibrahim, said the Council was responding to a petition written by shareholders of the bank “drawing the attention of regulatory authorities to some unapproved transactions conducted by the bank with its foreign technical partners. The petition from stakeholders, is on issues relating to the way they have been accruing some monies in their account.”
The bone of contention however is whether Stanbic IBTC properly disclosed these accruals into its account which is what the FRCN is investigating.
The accruals he said, “must be disclosed properly and they (Stanbic IBTC) require NOTAP approvals before they can make those payments. Now the person petitioning is saying that there is no need making those accruals because IBTC has not being able to secure NOTAP approval.”
Obazee maintained that “the petition kept coming and then we invited Stanbic IBTC to hear their side of the matter. And having listened to their side of the story, we believe that the petitioners have a good case.”
