Access Holdings said it paid N1.243 billion in penalties to regulatory authorities in 2024 for various infractions.
The regulators include the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Access Bank said in its audited full-year 2024 financial statement.
According to the document, published on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) on Tuesday, the penalties were related to contraventions of the ‘Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, 2020, relevant CBN circulars’, regulations between April and December 2024.
According to the filing, N300 million was paid to CBN on 30 April, 2024, as penalty for wrong warehousing of funds received from government agency
Another sum of N157.5 million penalty for contravention of anti-money laundering (AML) regulations was paid on 16 July, 2024.
‘Sum of N2 million penalty was paid to the CBN on 9 August, 2024, for contravention of consumer protection regulation in respect of wrong renewal of debit cards’, the statement reads.
‘Sum of N5 million penalty for contravention of regulations on targeted financial sanctions and screening solutions relating to the Bank’s database, paid on 29 October.
‘Sum of N5 million penalty for contravention of regulations on mystery shopping for confiscated naira notes on 29 October, 2024.
‘Sum of N5 million penalty for contravention of regulations on targeted financial sanctions and screening solutions relating to the Bank’s database was paid on 11 December’.
Access bank also said the sum of N69 million was paid as a penalty for contravention of regulations on reporting of cyber incidents that occurred in the Bank, and N561 million for contravention of AML regulations to the CBN, both on 19 December.
In addition, the bank said N100.6 million was paid to the SEC on December 12 over the unauthorised sale of securities, marking a total of to N1.205 billion penalties in 2024.
In 2023, according to the document, the total payments made to the CBN for contraventions alone were N38 million, representing a huge negative difference for the institution compared to N1.205 billion in 2024.
Company Posts Profit Of N642 billion
In the audited financial results, the company said its profit after tax (PAT) rose to N642.2 billion, a 3.7 per cent increase from the N619.32 billion posted the previous year.
Also, a profit before tax (PBT) of N867 billion was recorded — up by 19 per cent from the N729 billion posted in 2023.
The company said its total assets grew by 55.5 percent to N41.498 trillion, and customer deposits rose by 47 per cent to N22.525 trillion.
On 25 December 2024, Access Bank said it had raised N351 billion through rights issues to boost its capital base above the regulatory threshold as it embarks on its expansion plan.
