Access Holdings paid N1.2bn penalty for violating CBN, SEC laws in 2024

Access Holdings said it paid N1.243 billion in penalties to regulatory authorities in 2024 for various infractions.

The regulators include the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Access Bank said in its audited full-year 2024 financial statement.

According to the document, published on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) on Tuesday, the penalties were related to contraventions of the ‘Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, 2020, relevant CBN circulars’, regulations between April and December 2024.

According to the filing, N300 million was paid to CBN on April 30, 2024, as penalty for wrong warehousing of funds received from government agency 

Another sum of N157.5 million penalty for contravention of anti-money laundering (AML) regulations was paid on July 16, 2024.

“Sum of N2 million penalty was paid to the CBN on August 9, 2024, for contravention of consumer protection regulation in respect of wrong renewal of debit cards,” the statement reads.

“Sum of N5 million penalty for contravention of regulations on targeted financial sanctions and screening solutions relating to the Bank’s database, paid on October 29.

“Sum of N5 million penalty for contravention of regulations on mystery shopping for confiscated naira notes on October 29, 2024.

“Sum of N5 million penalty for contravention of regulations on targeted financial sanctions and screening solutions relating to the Bank’s database was paid on December 11.”

Access bank also said the sum of N69 million was paid as a penalty for contravention of regulations on reporting of cyber incidents that occurred in the Bank, and N561 million for contravention of AML regulations to the CBN, both on December 19.

In addition, the bank said N100.6 million was paid to the SEC on December 12 over the unauthorised sale of securities, marking a total of to N1.205 billion penalties in 2024.

In 2023, according to the document, the total payments made to the CBN for contraventions alone were N38 million, representing a huge negative difference for the institution compared to N1.205 billion in 2024.

COMPANY POSTS PROFIT OF N642BN 

In the audited financial results, the company said its profit after tax (PAT) rose to N642.2 billion, a 3.7 percent increase from the N619.32 billion posted the previous year.

Also, a profit before tax (PBT) of N867 billion was recorded — up by 19 percent from the N729 billion  posted in 2023.

The company said its total assets grew by 55.5 percent to N41.498 trillion, and customer deposits rose by 47 percent to N22.525 trillion. 

On December 25, 2024, Access Bank said it had raised N351 billion through rights issues to boost its capital base above the regulatory threshold as it embarks on its expansion plan.