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THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2013
MONEY
Banks read riot act to workers • ‘Quit and refund money spent on you’
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T may no longer be easy for trained bank workers to quit their jobs following a new “training bond” adopted by their employers. Under the bond, such workers will refund the money spent on them before being allowed to go, The Nation has learnt. The bond contains the following: name of the new staff; his or her residential address; next of kin; nature of training; monetary value of the training; and guarantors’ names in the event that the candidate absconded or is unable to pay back the money. The bond states, inter alia, that the guarantors must have impeccable records, and good financial standing.Also, senior management staff of banks and other financial service institutions are allowed to stand as guarantors for the workers. Chief Executive Officer of a firm of registrars, who pleaded anonymity, said the development followed the decisions of some graduates to leave banks for other professions a few months after their training. Sources said banks are worried over the development because they spend huge amounts of money to train graduates. A source said some banks send their workers, especially fresh graduates to some expensive
Stories by Akinola Ajibade
schools, among other renowned institutions, for training. Many graduates, after the training, left for other jobs, he added. He said: “I know at least two banks that have adopted “training bond” policy to either keep their workers or recover money spent on their training, in case they are leaving for better jobs. I don’t want to mention their names for obvious reasons. What the “training bond” form is saying is that somebody must guarantee you to the tune of N2 million if you leave. So, the bank is telling you to return the N2 million spent in training you, if you are leaving.” He said either the employees or the guarantors must pay for the cost of training, adding that the bank knows how to value the cost of capacity development of new and old workers. “Recently, a boy got a job in one of the banks. He came to me to sign a ‘training bond’ form for him. I was agitated by the development. I asked him what he intend to do, and he said he wants to go for Associate Chartered Accountant (ACCA) certificate thereafter,” he added. Also, a fellow, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Mr Deji Olarenwaju, said
banking is about prudence, arguing that banks were not ready to spend on projects that would not bring commensurate returns. Olarenwaju said banks’ decision to spend a lot of money on their workers’ training was borne out of the need to get results. He said there were no fewer than 4,500 professionals in the industry. He said some have left for the academics, while others went to establish their own companies. Olarenwaju, also a lecturer at the Babcock University, Ogun State, said there was the need for bankers to abide with professional ethics. He said: “Of the 4,500 professionally certified workers in the banks a few years ago, some have left for other areas of human endeavours. He said the CIBN’s Act 2007 is being amended to rid the industry of fake practitioners. According to him, the Act said certain areas of banking must not be handled by non-professionals to avoid crisis. “Unless you are chartered, you cannot practise banking. The era in which banks are being run by non-professionals is gradually coming to an end. Many bankers have been brought to book for committing grievous offences, and it would continue,” he added.
Nigeria, others get $93b infrastructural financing NIGERIA, among other sub-African countries, needs an estimated $93 billion yearly for infrastructure development over the next decade. The Head, Legal and Governance Department, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Mr Joe Ohiani, said this during a power project financing summit in Lagos. Citing a World Bank report, Ohiani said the summit is a yearly infrastructure investment in the region. He noted that 13 projects worth $12.6 billion were implemented under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) platform, thereby increasing investments in new projects by 12 per cent. He said Nigeria and South Africa accounted for 41 per cent of regional investments, with 95 per cent invested in telecom. He noted that the Federal Government spent through budgetary allocation about N2 trillion on agriculture and water resources, health, transportation, education, power generation and distribution between 1999 and 2007.
CBN on fraud combat mechanism THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has advised banks to use technology to combat fraud. Its Director, Banking Supervision, Mrs. Olatokunbo Martins, gave the advice at a forum in Lagos. She said the crisis that engulfed the industry a few years ago would have been avoided if the banks had used the right technology in their auditing and accounting processes. She said banks must use technology that warns of impending discrepancies in the financial statements, to foster growth. She said the technology must issue alerts when improper activities occur, adding that there is a problem whenever an application user requests for clarity of certain information or data. She said banks must ensure confidentiality, integrity and security of information system before they could tackle frauds. She said banks must obtain technical advice before designing, formulating, and enforcing information and technology control system to forestall hitches arising from audit. “Bank examiners must maintain the privacy of information in the course of their duties. This can be made possible through the use of the right technology,” she said.
Lagos has 8m ‘taxable’ workers LAGOS State Governor Babatunde Fashola has said eight million taxable adults are employed in Lagos State. He said many of them are not tax compliants, in spite of various enforcement strategies deployed by the government. Speaking during the Sixth Lagos State Taxation Stakeholders Forum in Lagos, he said the government’s use of ‘moral persuasion’ to make residents pay their taxes has failed. He said: “All tax evaders would have to meet us at the law court to ensure compliance. The reason is because our population is growing quicker than the available resources. We need money to execute a lot of projects.” He said Lagos boasts of over 20 million, arguing that existing socioeconomic infrastructure is not sufficient for the state. “In 2006, Lagos population was N17.5 million. Going by the official growth rate of three per cent a year, nothing less than 3.15 million people have been added to the population,’’ he added. He said the Constitution has bestowed the responsibility of paying taxes on individuals and corporation entities, stressing that some private organisations have been 100 per cent tax compliants.”
Bank unveils entrepreneurs Diamond Bank Plc and the Enterprise Development Centre (EDC) of the Pan African University (PAU) have unveiled the five outstanding entrepreneurs of the ‘Building Entrepreneurs Today’ (BET) programme, Series Two. Each entrepreneur received a grant of N3 million to expand his businesses.
•From left: Second Vice Chairman, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria(CIBN), Lagos State Branch, Mr Kola Abdul; immediate past Chairman, Mr Bayo Olugbemi; 1st Vice Chairman, Mrs. Silifat Ige and Chairman, CIBN, Mr Bolade Agboola, at a briefing by the newly elected executive committee members of the branch.
Bankers disagree on proposed role for CIBN S
HOULD the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), take over the supervisory functions of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). This poser is generating divergent views from stakeholders in the industry. The House of Representatives moved the idea last year following what is perceived as the enormous power of CBN Governor Lamido Sanusi. The Chairman, CIBN Lagos State branch, Mr Bolade Agboola, said the Institute would reclaim its rightful position in the industry, if the proposal is upheld. Agboola said CIBN’s autonomy was close by, going by the plan to amend CBN’s Act ( 160). He said the institute has the capacity to play critical roles at the na-
tional level, if given the opportunity. He said: “The debate on CIBN supervising the banks is a welcome development. This kind of discourse is good for the nation. We want autonomy to do more for the industry. Banking practice in the past 50 years has been interesting and successful. Banking has contributed immensely to the growth of the economy, efforts largely attributed to CIBN’s roles of providing professionally qualified personnel for the industry. At this level, if CBN is given higher responsibilities by way of supervising banks, it is not too much.” A former bank examiner, Mr Bandele Olusegun, said CIBN did
not have the resources to examine and supervise banks. “The CIBN cannot do it because of the fact that they do not have the resources to carry it out,” he said. Olusegun said CIBN’s major source of revenue is from members’ subscription, adding that it takes an average of three months to conduct a proper bank examination which costs a lot of money that the institute could not afford. He said it would amount to a misplaced priority, if CIBN was given the power to supervise the banks. Banking supervisions and examinations, he said, were not the same thing, arguing that each has its own rules. This, he said, would make it difficult for CIBN to supervise banks because they are not trained to do that.
The winners are Mr. Yusuf Kolawale, Creative director, ‘KolaKuddus Couture,’ Mrs. Yemisi Imasi Victoria, CEO of Yellow-Point Media; Mrs. Alice Umoh Oluwaseun, founder of Switbud Global Service Limited-a Confectionary Company; Mr. Tope Osuntokun, Super Yarsh Toilet & Sanitary Services and Mr. Okpe Tobenna Charles, an Enugubased farmer. Speaking after formally presenting the winners with their cheques, Head Retail Banking of Diamond Bank, Mr. Jude Anele stated that the credit risk of the entrepreneurs have dropped because of the training and would be qualified for loans at four per cent less than the prevailing lending rate from the bank. Mr. Uzoma Dozie, Executive Director, Lagos and West Businesses, Diamond Bank said the business of banking is not just about lending money, but about capacity building of its customers, remarking that the bank through the BET programme is partnering with existing entrepreneurs to help them grow bigger. “If an entrepreneur does not have certain structures in place, he would not be able to attract funds from financial institutions. We are here for the long haul and we are creating the entrepreneurial spirit in line with the changing environment. We want to give entrepreneurs tools to compete effectively. We are working with small businesses to make them grow bigger. The first step is for them to be on the programme and they are on their way to success,” he said.
Firm to organise mobile money expo MOBILE Money Africa will organise an exhibition in February. Tagged Mobile money expo, the event will bring together top executives of banks, regulators, system and application providers, among others In a statement, the company said the event would showcase more case studies on mobile payments, cards, micro finance, and technologies driving mobile financial services. It also said a social media platform called ‘Eskimi’ is partnering with the organisers of the expo to promote mobile financial services among millions of young mobile subscribers in Nigeria. “Eskimi will be inviting their members to test mobile money innovations and further help promote the idea in the country. The event is going to provide an opportunity for people to know the trends in the mobile money industry in Nigeria and beyond,” it added.