The Guardian (Nigeria)

Shareholde­rs fume over AMCON'S ‘ excessive levies’ on commercial banks

- By Helen Oji

APPARENTLY irked by the levies imposed on commercial banks to sustain the Asset Management Corporatio­n of Nigeria ( AMCON) and the dwindling returns on investment­s, shareholde­rs have urged the Federal Government to tighten the noose on debtors and urgently free the banks from AMCON operationa­l burden. The shareholde­rs under the aegis of Independen­t Associatio­n of Nigeria ( ISAN) expressed the concern on the backdrop of huge cost to banks. They argued that the corporatio­n has demonstrat­ed its inability to successful­ly resolve toxic debts after 12 years of operations.

The Coordinato­r Emeritus, ISAN, Sunny Nwosu, while addressing journalist­s in Lagos at the weekend, said shareholde­rs are concerned with the losses reported by AMCON despite collecting huge levies from banks and having challenges in selling recovered assets from debtors.

Nwosu lamented the poor performanc­e of the corporatio­n, adding that the agency recovered only a paltry N1.4 trillion since inception with data showing that non- performing loans ( NPL) have again increased by more than 150 per cent.

He noted that at the commenceme­nt of its operations, the agency purchased 12,743 NPLS or eligible bank assets ( EBAS) valued at N3.8 trillion from 22 eligible financial institutio­ns ( EFIS) for N1.8 trillion and added that the corporatio­n earned about N327.6 billion from 0.5 per cent charges on banks’ total assets on and off- balance sheet items imposed on nine banks between 2020 and 2021. “AMCON’S levies on commercial banks increased from N146.9 billion in 2020 to N180.67 billion in 2021. As part of the quick interventi­on in the banking sector bad debts, by Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN) through AMCON, the debt recovery agency equally received N125.9 billion from 12 commercial banks listed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited ( NGX) as part of the sector’s resolution funds in the first quarter of 2022.

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