Commercial banks in the country are flouting the directive of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the e-dividend iportal nitiative. While SEC directed that registration on the portal will be free for investors in the first 90 days, investigations reveal that some banks are charging investors as high as N3,150 to register on the portal. Financial Vanguard investigations reveal that some banks as at Friday, charged investors as high as N3,150 for verification and stamp on mandate form.

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has released the deposit insurance guidelines for mobile payments systems. Mobile payment refers to the use of mobile telephone technology for payment and financial transactions. In a statement announcing the guidelines, NDIC said that deposit insurance for mobile payment system is known as “Pass-Through Deposit Insurance scheme.”

Last week in this column I said in there was no need to continue the sale of foreign exchange by the Central Bank of Nigeria to Bureau De Change in the country as it was no longer tenable. Little did I know then that the CBN was going to act fast on it. But before that evening press conference by the CBN Governor, I received several calls, some accusing me of working for some vested interest, while others were threats of possible reprisals. The curious thing is that some of the calls were from politicians who have been beneficiaries of the scam. The truth is that these are self serving individuals whose only interest is their pockets and stomachs.

Huge strides have been made in the last few years to try to tackle the many endemic problems which assail the country with political and economic stability being seen as the key weapons in attacking the corrosive influence of corruption. Whether the actions being taken on the ground now lead to dramatic improvements in levels of transparency and levels of corporate governance remain to be There have been a number of improvements that is allowing Business enterprise to grow. If these improvements continue and more are created, then Nigerian can escape its third world status and become an emerging economy.

The declining fortunes of investors in the Nigerian stock market is indicated by a debilitating loss of N1.764 trillion in ten trading days, as the stock market maintained its free falll last week in response to further decline in crude oil price to below $30 per barrel, and the historic depreciation of the naira to N300 per dollar in the parallel market. Meanwhile, analysts have predicted further fall this week given the persistent weakness in price of crude oil.