Bankers Call for Specialized Courts to Expedite Cases as Banks Lose N12bn to Financial Crimes
- Nigerian bankers have advocated for a special court to handle rising financial crime cases
- They highlighted the need to expedite judgment considering the dynamic nature of the financial sector
- It is expected that special courts will be able to take care of financial matters in the sector
As concerns continue to rise about increasing cybercrimes, Nigerian banks want special commercial courts to deal with backlogs of financial-related cases.
The President of CIBN, Ken Opara, said this at a programme organised by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) in partnership with the National Judicial Institute (NJI), the President of CIBN.
Source: Getty Images
The event was themed, "The Financial Service Industry and the Judiciary: Upscaling for a Sound Economic Ecosystem."
This comes after an earlier report that the CBN mandated commercial and merchant banks to begin debiting various loan defaulters.
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Special court needed
Legit.ng earlier reported that the banking sector lost N12.2 billion to electronic payment fraud in the first half of the year (H1 2023).
Opara called for the creation of a specialised court that would exclusively deal with commercial and financial cases instead of having division within the existing court structure.
He highlighted the need to deliver judgment considering the dynamic nature of the financial sector amid the rising financial technology.
He also canvassed partnerships between stakeholders to ensure that the proper judgment is delivered.
He said:
We need to speed up cases. That is why we are canvassing for a commercial court. We have seen a lot of improvement, especially division and department in taking care of commercial cases. But we think much more needs to be done by setting up a special court for commercial and financial cases that will be able to take care of our financial matters.
According to Opara, the magistrate courts are illegally issuing bankers' orders despite a series of judicial precedents.
He commended the effort of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) to curb crime. However, he noted that some officials from the commission are storming banks illegally.
He added that the officials direct banks to place post-no debits on bank customers' accounts, contrary to the legal provisions on confidentiality of bank accounts.
According to Opara, the application for a Garnishee specifies the third party (garnishee) in the custody of the debtor's assets to be attached traditionally.
However, he said that the prevalent practice continues to be for the judgment creditor to proceed against all banks (as garnishees) without verifying the bank's indebtedness to the debtor.
Trouble for Nigerian banks in Congo as country's central bank imposes sale of 45% stake
Legit.ng reported that Nigerian banks in Congo could be affected by the new directive by the Central Bank of Congo. The instruction mandates banks to sell 45% of their stake within three years.
The apex bank wants traditional banks in the country to have at least four unrelated shareholders holding a minimum of 15% each.
This must include the current owner of the bank to allow the institution to spread risk.
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Source: Legit.ng
