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