NDIC shut downs Fortis Microfinance Bank

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), has announced the official liquidation of Fortis Microfinance Bank and its branches nationwide.

The corporation made this known in a press statement posted on its official website.

It assured insured depositors of the repayment of their monies.

The statement reads: “The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), the official Liquidator of Fortis Microfinance Bank whose license was recently revoked, has concluded arrangement to close the bank and its branches and pay the insured Depositors.

“We are therefore calling all depositors of the bank to visit the bank’s branches and meet NDIC officials for the verification of their claims, commencing from Monday, 4th February, 2019 till Friday, 8th February, 2019.”

It would be recalled that Fortis Microfinance Bank, which was licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 2007 and listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) as the first private sector led Microfinance Bank in 2012, had its shares suspended from being traded on the floor of the NSE for failing to adhere to standard corporate governance and extant post-listing requirements that make it mandatory for quoted companies to submit their financial statements within stipulated timelines.

It had also been grappling with protracted governance crisis and internal breakdown of management controls which ultimately led to the resignation of its interim Managing Director, Mrs. Bunmi Lawsan; now the eventual collapse of the bank.

In 2017, the banks nine month’s interim results clearly showed that with a customer deposit of about N7.9 billion, it only had less than 10 per cent of its total deposit which amounted to N440 million in its bank accounts.

The bank’s depositors are advised to check the NDIC’s official website for more information on how they can reclaim their funds.