•Says Banking industry safe, sound

•Slow assets recovery a challenge

By Elizabeth Adegbesan

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Bello Hassan advised that institutions should always strengthen their risk control practices to mitigate fraud.

The NDIC boss gave this advice  at a three day Workshop theme: “Enduring Extreme Disruption–Resilience & Reinvention for Banking System Stability and Deposit Insurance,”  organized for Business Editors and members of the Finance Correspondents Association of Nigeria (FICAN).  

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He said: “You know as banks strengthen their controls so also fraudsters are also trying to perfect their illegal ways of perpetrating fraud.  

“So my advice to regulated institutions is that they should at all times try to strengthen their risk management control practices as well as internal control procedures so as to safeguard their assets.  

“I am sure that by the time we do that we will see a downward trend in the level of fraud in the banking system”, he said.  

Hassan acknowledged that the banking industry is safe and sound, citing proactive measures of regulators on key macroeconomic indices as reasons for such success.

“And I am happy to know that regulators have taken proactive measures to make sure that the industry remains safe and sound. And looking at the key financial soundness indicators, capital adequacy, liquidity, the Non-performing loans ratio, the earnings, they are all looking good which means one can confidently say the banking industry is safe and sound.”

However, Hassan noted that slow recovery of assets has been a major challenge for the corporation but sees hope for fast asset recovery if the NDIC Act is amended and   the corporation is sufficiently empowered.

“There are alot of areas that I think the NDIC Act needs to be amended. At NDIC, we are liquidators and what happens is that at our point of liquidation we try to recover the assets, especially the loans and advances that were granted by those banks that are in liquidation.

“I think one of the challenges that we are facing is slow recovery and if the Act is to be amended,   I think it is important that the Corporation is sufficiently empowered to be able to recover those assets as expeditiously as possible so that we can pay depositors.”