US embassy cable - 02ABUJA2977

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