By Merit Ibe

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC)  has certified Deposit Money Banks in the country safe as long as their licenses have not been revoked.

Managing Director, NDIC, Bello Hassan, made the remark at a capacity Building Workshop organised by the Legal Department of the corporation, yesterday in Lagos,  themed “Effective Investigation and Prosecution of Banking Malpractices that led to failure of Banks.”

Hassan noted that the theme of the workshop was apt because it captures what is expected of staff of the corporation as well as law enforcement agencies in the discharge of one of the responsibilities of holding parties at fault in banking failures.

The NDIC boss, who noted that all banks operating within the country were sound in as much as their licences have not been revoked, added, “ you are free to bank with them.

“If there is a problem, the regulator that issues the licence will be the one to revoke the licence.”

Hassan also disclosed that the corporation usually carried out stress tests on banks on a regular basis, just as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) does, to ascertain their financial soundness.

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“The CBN also does stress testing and so do we in NDIC. In fact we do it on a monthly basis to ascertain the financial soundness of those banks and we see no red line. When we talk of key financial soundness indicators, we are talking about the capital adequacy and liquidity and the quality of the assets.

“Those two solid financial soundness indicators that you use to gauge the safety and soundness of these institutions are robust. So, based on that, the banks are safe and sound; continue to bank with them.”

For his part, Director, Public Prosecutions of the Federation (DPPF), Mohammed Abubakar, noted that the theme underscores the continuous need for stakeholders to be committed to the exigencies of combating  banking malpractices in the country.

He said the integrity of the banking system  is central to the socio-economic wellbeing of the country.

“Therefore the need for the effectiveness mechanism  cannot be over emphasised.”

He reminded the audience that the NDIC was created to sanitise the banking sector and prevent the descent to the precepe and economic  woes arising from unhealthy practises.