The global financial crisis which led to the erosion of the capitalisation of insurance companies has prompted the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to beam its searchlight on insurance companies whose capital have suffered erosion due to diminution in the values of assets and provision for bad debt.

Since Maltina introduced the Maltina Dance Hall Reality Television Show, a family dance show where families contest for the star prize, things has not been rosy in the market, an indication that a battle line was imminent between Guinness Nigeria Plc, brewers of the Malta Guinness brand and Maltina, from the stable of the Nigerian Breweries Plc.

The bath soap segment of the market witnessed a new entrant, when Devon luxury soap, from the stable of Orange Drugs Limited was formally introduced into the market, as it host 2011 beauty competition.

Property developers under the aegis of Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN) have commended the federal government for creating a new ministry for land, housing and urban development.

Despite public outcry and condemnation of the continued multiplicity of checkpoints along the Mile2 – Seme Expressway, the practice has continued. This is against the protocol of free movement of goods and services of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to which Nigeria is a signatory. The development, according to diplomatic sources, is causing Nigeria immeasurable level of embarrassment.

According to the last official Nigerian census in 2006, women comprised almost half of the then 140 million
populace at 68.3 million.

A bearish trend was recorded on the secondary segment of the Nigerian capital market, last week, as investments on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), represented by the market capitalisation of listed equities, dipped by N142.34 billion.

The Chartered institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) has announced its preparedness to partner with the Federal Government and relevant government agencies in the achievement of the objectives of the National Tax Policy and help in the drive towards an increase in Nigeria’s internally generated revenue.

Shareholders and investment analysts have commended Skye Bank Plc for the five kobo dividend being proposed by the Board of Directors of Skye Bank Plc for the financial year ended December 31, 2009.

Mr. Ola Akanbi is the chief executive officer of De_Koolar Nigeria Limited, a refrigeration and air_conditioning company with offices in Abuja and Lagos. Recently, the National Diploma holder in Mechanical Engineering from Owo Polytechnic spoke to Financial Vanguard.
Excerpts.

In a time of great turmoil for the global financial system, when banks-big and small, declared huge losses and laid off staff en-mass, Standard Charted Bank Group reported a seventh consecutive record annual profit of $3.38 billion for the year ended December 31st 2009.

Mr. Jerome Frank is the Managing Director of Swaga Records, a recoding company operating both in Nigeria and Malaysia. He says his company is on the move again to establish the First Malaysian Restaurant and an Entertainment outfit in the country.

THE inability to harmonize the code of corporate governance in the financial sector by the regulators has generated heated controversies in terms of compliance as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) code clashes with that of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The new directive on interest rate may introduce another dimension to the competition in the banking industry, with possibility of reducing banks’ profitability.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has requested for the support and cooperation of the Central Bank of Sudan (CBOS) for the implementation of Islamic banking (non-interest banking) in Nigeria.