JPMorgan, HSBC, others face $1bn FX-rigging suit

JPMorgan Chase & Co. HSBC,  and UBS Group AG are among five banks being sued over allegations of foreign-exchange rigging in a class-action lawsuit seeking more than £1bn ($1.2bn or just over R17bn), Bloomberg reported yesterday. Barclays, Citigroup and Royal Bank of Scotland Group are also among the targets of the United Kingdom suit that will say pension funds, asset managers, hedge funds and corporations lost out because of market manipulation between 2007 and 2013 and should be compensated. The lawsuit centers on collusion on foreign-exchange trading strategies, for which the…

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Group raises concern over N58bn empowerment projects

  Tracka, the  organisation  founded by BudgIT for  tracking the implementation of government projects in communities,  has raised alarm over what it describes as,  “wasteful empowerment projects” in the 2019 Zonal Intervention Projects, nominated by members of the National Assembly.   In a press release, the organsisation  noted that the Zonal Intervention Projects accounted for N58 billion of the N100 billion constituency projects, which, it said,  “are practically used as political benefits.”   According to the organisation, “the lack of citizen inclusion in the nomination of zonal intervention projects has led to an escalating number of abandoned projects…

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Heritage Bank, Afreximbank, Zamfara sign $1bn MoU

Two banks, Heritage Bank Plc and African Export Import Bank  (Afreximbank), have signed $1billion Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Zamfara State Government  in the areas of mining, agriculture and water resources.  In addition to Heritage Bank, which is  the banker to the project, another financial institution involved in the transaction is PAC Capital Limited, the investment banking arm of PanAfrican Capital Holdings. Speaking with journalists at the signing of the MoU in Abuja, the MD/CEO of Heritage Bank, Ifie Sekibo, stated that the win-win collaboration amongst the institutions would promote and fast track support that…

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Rewane: Telco PSBs to boost FG’s financial inclusion agenda

The Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) commitment towards achieving 95 per cent  financial inclusion rate by 2024 would be enhanced if the apex bank licenses mobile network operators (telcos), as Payment Service Banks (PSBs), Chief Executive Officer, Financial Derivatives Company Limited’s (FDC), Mr. Bismarck Rewane, has said. According to the financial expert, telco PSBs have some key advantages over deposit money banks, which will make them more effective agents in promoting financial inclusion in the country. Rewane, who stated this in the FDC’ s latest Monthly Economic Update, obtained by New Telegraph…

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Labour hails Jakande at 90

  The Trade Union Congress (TUC) of Nigeria, Lagos State Council has congratulated a former Governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Jakande, as he marks 90th birthday.   In statement signed by the State Chairman, Comrade Gbanga Ekundayo and the Secretary, Comrade Aladetan Abiodun, in Lagos, TUC eulogised Jakande in view of the fact that his 90th birthday came at a time Nigeria is in need of a servant leadership as epitomised by him.   “The leadership of TUC Lagos State is not surprise at the copious felicitation coming from…

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CBN’s decision on securities to hurt banks

  There are indications that deposit money banks in the country may find it difficult maintaining current levels of profitability due to new measures introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which aim to compel lenders to increase lending to the real sector by restricting their investment in government securities.   As part of such measures, the CBN had barred DMBs from buying Treasury bills for their own accounts at an open market auction held on July 18. According to traders, the apex bank told lenders that their bids…

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NLC seeks end embargo on employment

    The Borno State chapter of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has advised the state Governor, Babagana Zulum, to lift embargo on employment.   The Chairman of the congress, Mr Bulama Abiso, while making the call in Maiduguri, also commended the governor for releasing N1 billion for payment of 34 months pension arrears owed retired workers in the state, adding that the union was prepared to initiate sound programmes to improve workers’ welfare.   Describing the payment of pensioners as a welcome development, he said the state government had adopted…

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14 vessels lift N298.9bn liquefied gas from Onne Port

    As the price of natural gas in Asia remains steady since last month, no fewer than 14 vessels have left Onne Port between June and July this year with 947, 000 metric tonnes of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). The liquefied gas is valued at N298.9billion ($830.5million) in the Asian market. In the last six months, the price of LNG in Asia has reached $877 per metric tonnes. It was learnt that the surge in the export of the product is as a result of high demand driven by…

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Nigeria’s potential labour force to rise by 350%

      As Nigeria’s population and that of other African countries keeps increasing with little or no control, the continent has been projected to have a larger workforce than of Asia by the end of the 21st Century.   The continent’s working-age population will grow by two billion to 2.75-billion in the next 80 years, while Asia’s will decline by 415-million, or 13 per cent even as both continents wrestle with different demographic and economic challenges.   Specifically, Nigeria’s potential labour force is projected to rise by almost 350…

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Debts consume terminal operators’ N3trn investment

    Despite the huge investment in the port industry, operators of bonded terminals are in bad debts.   It was learnt that some terminals have been closed down because of bad debts and poor infrastructure.   According to the Executive Secretary of the Association of Indigenous Bonded Terminal Operators of Nigeria (AIBTON), Mr Haruna Omolajomo, some members of the association had invested more than N3trillion in the Nigerian port sector.   He explained that the investments include building, equipment and other assets.   Omolajomo said in Lagos that the association…

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