Investors sell banking shares as Nigeria suspends nine banks from forex deals
LAGOS — Investors sold shares in Nigerian banks on Wednesday, a day after the central bank suspended nine lenders from foreign exchange transactions for failing to remit money owed to the government.The central bank suspended FCMB, First Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Heritage Bank, Keystone Bank, Skye Bank, Diamond Bank, Sterling Bank and Fidelity Bank on Tuesday for withholding government dollars from the national treasury, banking sources said.Shares in Diamond Bank fell the most, shedding 7.32% in early trade, followed by Sterling bank, which was down 3.88%. FCMB fell 2.5%, FBN Holdings shed 1.5% and Skye Bank was down 1.54%.According to the central bank, the banks had failed to remit $2.1bn, which was the government’s share of dividends from the state-owned gas company NLNG. The banks were supposed to pay the money into the government’s account at the central bank.Last year, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari ordered government payments to be made into a single, central b...
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