Osinbajo Foresees New Risks In Banking Industry, Wants Regulators To Research

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has challenged regulatory institutions in the Nigerian banking sector to spend more time and resources on researching the nature, management of new risks facing the industry.
Such risks, Professor Osinbajo said, when he spoke today, October 21 at a function by the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) In Abuja are the speed of transactions, cross border transactions, money laundering concerns and data privacy as well as security issues.
He stressed the urgent need for training to meet the required compliance capacity which he said is crucial.
Vice President Osinbajo also identified challenges associated with the move towards financial inclusion.
“In the past four years the Federal Government launched the Social Investment Programme, and in particular the micro-credit programme covering over two million informal traders, and then our Conditional Cash Transfer scheme meant to cover over a million of the poorest in our communities.
“All of these have formalized to a certain extent services to millions of individuals who were outside the banking system. And with our commitment (and the President has already stated that), we intend to lift 10 million persons annually from extreme poverty for the next ten years.
“So, we are looking at a much more phenomenally larger customer base for the banks and of course, with all of the implications that this will have for regulations.
“With the signing of the African Continental Free Trade Area agreements, we are also bound to see even greater opportunities for our banks whose footprints are already firmly all over Africa. Again these opportunities plus technology present their own issues both for the NDIC, domestic deposit insurers in sister African countries and the regional deposit insurance bodies.
“So, the future is without a doubt exciting, but I dare say, will also call for a proactive, nimble and savvy NDIC as well as all other institutions constituting our financial safety net.
“And we must note this especially when those who should know like Mr. AIG Imoukhuede say without blinking that the regulatory infrastructure today belongs to yesterday, and we may not be prepared for the future. And that is as frightening as one could possibly have the facts, so there is a lot of work to be done.”