Bank shareholders threaten legal action against AMCON’s continued reliance on banks for funding
Shareholders of banks have threatened to take legal action against Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) because of its continuous reliance on banks for funding.
Mr. Matthew Akinlade, President of the Nigeria Shareholders Solidarity Association (NSSA) said the .5 percent levy on bank’s profit after tax in favour of AMCON was unfair, remarking that its lifespan has been politicised over the years.
He said AMCON was established to resolve a particular issue and it was supposed to be for a short time but it’s tenure has now been elongated by the political class.
He said the authorities wants to use it to put a burden on banks and called on them to end it’s tenure and threatened that shareholders of banks might take legal action against AMCON.
Also speaking, Mr. Boniface Okezie, National Chairman of Progressive Shareholders Association kicked against the continued funding of AMCON by banks, remarking that the CBN and the Bankers Committee are not the ones appointing directors of AMCON, yet banks are saddled with the responsibility of funding it.
The shareholders leader who accused AMCON of collecting billions of Naira from banks advised AMCON to look else where outside banks for its funding.
AMCON) was created on July 19 2010 to be a key stabilizing and re-vitalizing tool aimed at reviving the financial system by efficiently resolving the non-performing loan assets of the banks in the Nigerian economy.
President Muhammadu Buhari recently signed a new law that grants additional powers to AMCON. The new law known as AMCON (Amendment Act, 2019) empowers the agency to access the financial details of debtors. The agency can now place bank accounts of debtors under surveillance.
The new law also empowers AMCON to by-pass any legal or procedural restriction, specifically those protecting banking details of debtors, so that the debt-mopping agency could gain access to such records.
With this development, AMCON can now establish the location of debtors’ funds at home or in the Diaspora.
The law also empowers AMCON to furnish government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) with a list of debtors, and advise government to deny contract awards to such defaulting companies and persons.
The new law also empowers AMCON to place any bank account or any other account comparable to a bank account of a debtor of an eligible financial institution under surveillance; obtain access to any computer system component, electronic or mechanical device of any debtor with a view to establishing the location of funds belonging to the debtor; and obtain information in respect of any private account together with all bank financial and commercial records of any debtor of any eligible financial institution.
Business Crid
