MTN hit with huge refund

– Nigeria’s central bank has ordered SA telecoms giant MTN to refund $8.13 billion (R119 billion) that it allegedly illegally repatriated and fined four banks involved in the transfer.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said in a statement MTN had not obtained approval before transfering the funds.

The banks had breached foreign exchange rules by failing to verify if the company had met all the requirements, it added.

Standard Chartered Bank, Citibank Nigeria Limited, Stanbic IBTC Bank Limited and Diamond Bank Plc were found to have helped MTN illegally repatriate $8.134 billion between 2007 and 2015.

The CBN said Standard Chartered was fined 2.4 billion naira; Stanbic IBTC 1.8 billion naira, Citibank 1.2 billion naira; and Diamond Bank PLC 250 million naira.

MTN was fined $5.2 billion in 2015 by Nigeria’s telecoms regulator NCC for failing to disconnect unregistered SIM cards on its network.

The fine was later reduced to $1.7 billion. –

Lagos