Banking under the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act: A Survey of Compliance

This article is the results of an empirical study conducted through survey of 21 merchant banks and 20 commercial banks randomly selected to examine whether or not they complied with the requirements to publish their Annual Reports within four months after the end of their Financial Year. The study covered a total of 21 Newspapers and magazines in which the Annual Reports were expected to have been published. The study used 1992 as a case study. This was a period when Nigeria was ruled by the military at federal and civilians in the States. The findings of the study shows a total of 45 contravention cases consisting of delay in publication, partial disclosure of penalties paid or none disclosure of the amount paid as fine by banks. Whereas delay in publishing Annual Reports contravened Section 27 (1a) of Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA), failure to provide details of policy contravened and the penalties paid thereon is a contravention of Section 27 (2) and each contravention attracts a fine of N100,000.00 as stipulated in Section 27 (5) of the BOFIA. The study concludes that the sum of N4.5 million had accrued from those contraventions and that about N20 million could have been realised if all the banks that operated during the period of the study were to be reviewed.