HOT and FRESH FINANCE STORIES


 Sorry, I wanted to create a thread where i will be posting daily hot and fresh financial stories from the dailies



Monday, 9th February 2009 9:56:53 AM  (The Nation)
 
     
Oceanic Bank unveils unique MasterCard    9/2/2009
   
Oceanic Bank International Plc has introduced MasterCard with some unique features that have made it the most convenient to use among many others.

 Chief Executive of Oceanic Bank, Dr. Cecilia Ibru, said the new card was in line with the expectations and high demands of customers in the market.

The card is a dollar-denominated card that enables the holder to make payment for goods and services anywhere in the world without cash. It is a safe, flexible, convenient and comprehensive payment system accepted across the world.

 Stating that the card is the best way to play in today’s rapidly evolving environment, Ibru said the card allows holders to shop on-line from US merchant shops and get their items delivered at their door steps in Nigeria in record time.

She said: "Though, some institutions have also introduced the MasterCard brand, but our Oceanic MasterCard stands out as it is tailored to the specific needs of the customers, at much competitive rates/ charges.

"With its unique offering, the Oceanic Bank MasterCard avails every cardholder the opportunity of shopping on-line from over 2,500,000 shops in the United States and having the items delivered at their door steps in Nigeria in record time.

"This is a feat any other card is yet to achieve in the country thus making the Oceanic MasterCard the choice card for Nigerians that can or may not want to travel to the United States to shop."

 She further explained that holders of the Oceanic MasterCard may withdraw cash at over 900,000 designated Automated Teller Machine (ATM) points located in shops, banks, airports, high streets, in over 210 countries worldwide where MasterCard has a presence. To make identification easy, these ATMs display the following message "MasterCard Accepted Here" on their screens.

Central Bank probes banks' profit claims

ARE profits being declared by Nigerian banks genuine? Are these banks adhering to the rules of the prudential guidelines, especially as regards their loan status in arriving at their profit margins? These posers and more are what the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is currently battling to unravel. Consequently, The Guardian reliably gathered, the apex bank has dispatched another set of its officials, known as Income Auditors to all the banks in the country. In another development, the Accountant-General of the Federation is on the trail of saboteurs of the recently introduced e-payment regime in government transactions. According to investigations by The Guardian, the CBN officials are mandated to examine banks' schedules on foreign exchange transactions, schedules on banks' 50 top loan customers, 50 top depositors, and also banks' Commission on Turnover (CoT). The essence is to match CBN findings with the profits being declared by banks to ensure that no bank is declaring bogus profit. According to sources in the banks, the CBN income auditors are generally allowed access to the banks sources of income. THE GUARDIAN

Nigeria loses new oil and gas investments to Angola, Ghana
There are strong indications that investment inflow to the upstream sub-sector of the Nigerian oil industry has started dwindling as foreign investors now choose Angola and Ghana as preferred destinations over Nigeria. This, by implication, of course, would threaten Nigeria’s capacity to grow its crude oil reserves as planned and there might also be job cuts in the industry. Nigeria is targeting 40 billion barrels proven reserves by 2010.Analysts have identified insecurity in the Niger Delta and unstable fiscal policy as key reasons while investors are gradually leaving Nigeria for more stable business climes. Correspondents gathered that international oil companies are beginning to see insecurity in the Niger Delta as a key threat to investments, especially with the experience that a major oil company like Shell has had, with its production dropping from one million barrels per day to about 380,000 barrels per day.BUSINESSDAY

FG removes bank guarantees requirement for exporters

Exporters are now free to receive their Negotiable Duty Credit Certificates (NDCCs) without the requirement of a bank guarantee, as the Federal Government removed the requirement in its bid to step up the export expansion grant (EEG) scheme .The NDCC entitles an exporter to offset part or whole of subsequent customs and excise duties payable to the Federal Government of Nigeria. The EEG is one of the novel export incentives introduced by the government through the Export (Incentives and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act of 1986 as amended by the Export (Incentives and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act of 1992.To benefit from the scheme, exporters are required to register with the Nigeria Export Promotions Council after meeting certain criteria. Removing the bank guarantee will eliminate additional costs to exporters as well as remove impediments to doing business in the country. It will also encourage exporters to venture into non-oil business towards enhancing foreign exchange earnings for the country. BUSINESSDAY

Why Bankers’ C’ttee Banned ‘Excessive Advertising

The decision to tone down the publicity blitz associated with the publication of annual financial statements by banks informed the restrictions placed on banks in respect of advertising, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said. The apex bank also said that the decision was jointly taken by the Bankers’ Committee and not CBN’s unilaterial decision.CBN’s Head of Corporate Affairs, Mr. Festus Odoko, made this clarification in a statement made available to journalists’ yesterday. But correspondents learnt that the concern of the Bankers’ Committee may not be unconnected with the uneasy disquiet that has been brewing over the state of the health of some banks in the country. Besides the ongoing de-marketing gimmick depicting or insinuating that some banks can no longer meet their financial obligations, Newspaper houses had reported that heads of the finance department of some blue-chip firms were now cautious of the banks they deal with. For instance, one of the oil majors in the country has informed its contractors that it will be more comfortable with guarantees from just two banks.” It is not that our company specifically said it would not honour guarantees from other banks but our finance department just said they would be more comfortable to do business with the two banks given the uncertainty and rumours about the health of banks generally in the industry,” a source in one top oil companies in the country had told correspondents. THIS DAY

Oil prices up on supply crunch warning

CRUDE oil prices have risen after the International Energy Agency (IEA) said that there could be supply shortages next year once demand picks up. Nobuo Tanaka, the IEA's executive director, warned there could be a "supply crunch”. United States (U.S.) light crude for March delivery rose 65 cents to $38.16 a barrel. Brent oil added 29 cents to $45.10 a barrel.” Currently the demand is very low due to the very bad economic situation," Tanaka said.” But when the economy starts growing, recovery comes again in 2010 and then onward, we may have another serious supply crunch if capital investment is not coming.” He said that he expected world oil demand to rise by about one million barrels per day from next year. Tanaka also urged the oil producers' cartel Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) not to seek a rapid price increase by cutting supply, adding that a lower price "helps the economic recovery". THE GUARDIAN

January Inflation Records 14%

Nigeria's consumer price inflation dropped marginally to 14 per cent as against 14.6 it closed in December last year. The National Bureau of Statistics said the rate represented year on year inflation for the month. Growth in food prices, which form much of the index basket, according to the NBS report, rose to 18.4 per cent year-on-year from 18.0 per cent in December, 2008. "The rise in the index was caused mainly by an increase in the price of some staple food items, health and miscellaneous services," the report further stated. Analysts said however, that much of the inflationary impact of the distortions to the country’s economic fundamentals, like the depreciation of the naira, will be felt by the second quarter. Commodities with heavy import content are said to be worse hit by the rise in prices, which observers said have increased by about 20 per cent over their November prices. Meanwhile, the naira continued its drift at the parallel market yesterday, as end users purchased one dollar at N157 in most parts of Lagos. At the Bureau de Change, where it is illegal to sell beyond a specified spread, the operators sold the dollar at N147.However, because of the wide gap between the BDC and black market rate, much of the trading was at the latter. THIS DAY