NIGERIA: REQUESTED INFORMATION ON BANK OF THE

UNCLAS ABUJA 002977

SIPDIS


DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS TO EXIM BANK


E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: BEXP ETRD NI EXIM
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: REQUESTED INFORMATION ON BANK OF THE
NORTH LIMITED

REF: SECSTATE 193723



1. Summary. EconOff met with Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)
Deputy Governor for International Operations, Mr. Ernest Ebi
on October 8. Mr. Ebi confirmed that Bank of the North (BON)
Ltd. is recognized as a commercial bank, and all the
regulations that apply to other commercial banks in Nigeria
are applied with equal force by the CBN in its supervision of
the activities of BON Ltd. End Summary.



2. Ebi confirmed that, although the ownership of the BON Ltd.
is spread across the northern state governments and private
individuals, the CBN treats it like any other commercial bank
in the country. The bank gets no preferential treatment by
regulators or the GON.



3. Ebi informed EconOff that he personally cannot relay the
financial position of BON Ltd., but referred us to public
documents such as the BON's Financial Statement, which is
certified by the CBN.



4. Ebi confirmed that the BON Ltd. was not one of the banks
recently sanctioned for illicit arbitrage or round tripping
of foreign exchange. He did not believe the bank was under
any investigation, but referred us to the Department of
Banking Supervision. The Department of Banking Supervision
has not responded to our request for written confirmation
that the BON Ltd. has not been sanctioned and is not
presently under investigation. Instead, they refer us to
other public records of the bank's standing, and remind us
their policy is to not make public comment on sanctions and
investigations.



5. The names of the key bank officials noted in reftel were
passed through the Consular and other Mission databases.
There were no findings of negative information.
JETER


JETER