AN air of discomfort enveloped Nigeria's banking industry following disclosures that about five companies and their directors have literarily compromised funds of shareholders and customers of the financial institutions.

Already, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has opted for a full disclosure strategy to stem the tide of anxiety faced by the lending banks.

As at yesterday, over N1.25 trillion was being owed the banks by the high profile individuals and their companies, with a significant percentage of the debt stock in foreign currencies.

But the debtors have seemingly kept the banks on tenterhooks, forcing them to categorise the liabilities as bad debts that are being written off to cleanse the financial institutions' books.

Indeed, two of the companies and their directors have a debt overhang of $3.75 billion (N550 billion), with a further N280 billion representing the local currency component of their collective liabilities.

Another well-known group of companies, with an equally visible entrepreneur as its majority stakeholder, is allegedly owing $400 million (N58 billion).

Although some of the alleged debtors have denied that they owe the banks, hopes of the affected institutions to recover the loans are fading.

A survey by The Guardian indicated that objectives for which the loans were collected remained largely unachieved, with some of the banks strategising on how to present acceptable financials to their respective shareholders,


http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/news/article01//indexn2_html?pdate=220709&ptitle=Banks%20groan%20under%20N1.25tr%20loans%20to%20'big%20five'


Please who are the Big five ooooo

Pls can somebody enlighten me,

all these cryptic reports will do us no good.
name and shame them now.