The crisis rocking Ecobank Transnational Incorporation (ETI) is deepening as it sues its former head of strategy, David Lawson, for allegedly maligning the Chief Executive Officer of the bank, Thierry Tanoh.
A media report on Tuesday said ETI is having a new problem with Lawson because of an email he wrote, entitled “Major corporate governance issues at Ecobank”. The report said the he indicated in the mail that the bank was at risk because of poor leadership.
The new crisis emanates from alleged misstatement of the bank’s 2012 performance by the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in August.
Speaking on the crisis, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of APT Securities and Funds Limited, Malam Kasimu Kurfi, believed that the crisis rocking the bank is having negative impact on the bank shares.
He said the market is aware of the issue which is why there is no significant appreciation in the stocks despite the release of third quarter result.
On the implication of the SEC investigation on the bank, Kurfi said the market is awaiting the outcomes which will determine the next line of action to be taken.
“Don’t forget that ETI has been listed across West African exchanges, therefore whatever action taken by SEC may have effect across the region”, he said.
Another stockbroker, who wants to remain anonymous, said adherence to corporate governance has been a strong challenge rocking corporate bodies.
He said: “ETI is known for its transparency and integrity. This makes it difficult for the chairman to remain in that position.”
Reacting to the share price of ETI, he said the market had reacted to the challenge when the share price dropped to around N13.00.
“The regulators have much to do. The CBN must have been seeing this in the account of ETI, what has it done to curb it before it escalated to that? Also, corporate governance must not only be sung but must be acted upon,” he said.
It would be recalled that the SEC had on September 16, said the investigation into ETI corporate governance issue was still on.
In order to take all necessary steps to speedily conclude the investigation into alleged corporate governance breaches at ETI, SEC engaged the services of KPMG, a leading accounting, audit and management consulting firm to complement the efforts of the SEC in investigating the matter.
This allegation of mismanagement has led to the departure of ETI chairman, Lawson.
The bank’s governance problems surfaced in April when Nigeria’s central bank notified it of Lawson’s failure to repay N1.4 billion ($8.79 million) in debts sold to AMCON, the state-owned “bad bank”, and a further N1.6 billion owed to Ecobank by businesses associated with him.
The new crisis emanates from alleged misstatement of the bank’s 2012 performance by the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in August.
Speaking on the crisis, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of APT Securities and Funds Limited, Malam Kasimu Kurfi, believed that the crisis rocking the bank is having negative impact on the bank shares.
He said the market is aware of the issue which is why there is no significant appreciation in the stocks despite the release of third quarter result.
On the implication of the SEC investigation on the bank, Kurfi said the market is awaiting the outcomes which will determine the next line of action to be taken.
“Don’t forget that ETI has been listed across West African exchanges, therefore whatever action taken by SEC may have effect across the region”, he said.
Another stockbroker, who wants to remain anonymous, said adherence to corporate governance has been a strong challenge rocking corporate bodies.
He said: “ETI is known for its transparency and integrity. This makes it difficult for the chairman to remain in that position.”
Reacting to the share price of ETI, he said the market had reacted to the challenge when the share price dropped to around N13.00.
“The regulators have much to do. The CBN must have been seeing this in the account of ETI, what has it done to curb it before it escalated to that? Also, corporate governance must not only be sung but must be acted upon,” he said.
It would be recalled that the SEC had on September 16, said the investigation into ETI corporate governance issue was still on.
In order to take all necessary steps to speedily conclude the investigation into alleged corporate governance breaches at ETI, SEC engaged the services of KPMG, a leading accounting, audit and management consulting firm to complement the efforts of the SEC in investigating the matter.
This allegation of mismanagement has led to the departure of ETI chairman, Lawson.
The bank’s governance problems surfaced in April when Nigeria’s central bank notified it of Lawson’s failure to repay N1.4 billion ($8.79 million) in debts sold to AMCON, the state-owned “bad bank”, and a further N1.6 billion owed to Ecobank by businesses associated with him.
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