Six big banks in Nigeria, including United Bank for Africa (UBA), Wema Bank, and Stanbic IBTC, couldn’t join a recent money auction by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
This auction had the CBN selling $876.26 million to 26 banks. This was to help with the high demand for foreign money like the dollar and to find a fair price for it.
Governor Yemi Cardoso of the CBN organized this auction to make the naira stable and handle the ever-changing market of foreign money.
Overall, 32 banks wanted to buy $1.18 billion, but $279.04 million worth of bids from six banks got rejected.
Banks That Got Disqualified
- United Bank for Africa (UBA): One of Nigeria’s top banks. They wanted to buy $13.21 million, but their bid was late.
- First City Monument Bank (FCMB): They had the biggest bid among the disqualified banks. They wanted $178.65 million, but their bid was also late.
- Stanbic IBTC Plc: This well-known bank tried to buy $57.86 million, but like UBA and FCMB, their bid was late too.
- Wema Bank: Known for their digital banking ALAT, they wanted $21.94 million, but their bid was late as well.
- SunTrust Bank: A newer bank in Nigeria. They wanted $7.38 million, but failed to give the required bid rates.
- Rand Bank: This bank did not submit any bid information at all, so they were excluded.
All these rejections added up to $279.04 million in unsuccessful bids.
Important Things to Know
- CBN’s auction on August 6, 2024, was meant to give out foreign money to people who need it for trade and other uses to help keep the naira stable.
- The successful bids got settled on August 8, 2024, using a quick process called T+2 settlement.
- Big banks like UBA, Wema, and Stanbic being excluded shows that CBN has strict rules to keep things fair and clear in the market.
- This tells us how important it is to send bids on time and fill out forms correctly for future auctions.