NDIC commences verification of claims settlement by banks

THE Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has commenced on site visits to selected agent banks to assess their level of compliance with processes to ensure prompt payment to depositors of closed deposit money banks and microfinance banks.The exercise, which kicked off on July 30, by Claims Resolution Department (CRD) of the corporation, is to cover 93 selected branches of the agent banks, which are spread across the country, according to the Head of Public Affairs and Communications of the NDIC, Alhaji Hadi Birchi, in a statement on Tuesday.The Guardian findings revealed thatthe corporation had as at December 2011, recovered about N22.26 billion from the debtors of the closed banks. The 46 closed banks had a book value of the risk assets of about N168.74 billion, with a total of 62,155 debtors as at closure.However, these figures do not include the loan assets of Eagle and Hallmark Banks that were sold to the acquiring banks.Similarly, the corporation had recovered about N13.56 million from the debtors of microfinance banks in liquidation as at December 2011.Birchi explained that to effectively conduct the exercise, the 93 agent banks branches had been selected on zonal basis. While 27 branches would be visited in the South West, 24 in North Central and 13 in the South South, the corporation would visit 15 branches in the South East, eight in the North East and six in the North West zones.The exercise is to confirm that payment to depositors is carried out expeditiously and in conformity with the operational guidelines already given to the agent banks by the corporation; assess and ensure that payments of both insured and uninsured deposits remitted to the banks are made to the depositors of the closed banks without let or hinderance; and ensure that the banks properly keep the payment documents forwarded to them by the Corporation such as mandate files, signature cards, Liquidator's certificates, Deposit Registers, to ensure that payment to the depositors are not impeded by the absence of these records.It will also Identify and address areas of challenges being faced by the Agent banks that may hinder them from making payment to depositors of the closed banks; and further train the desk officers in charge of payment where the need arises.
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