charles c soludo : the safety and soundness of the nigerian banking system press statement by professor charles c soludo, governor of the central bank of nigeria, on the safety and soundness of the banking system, abuja, 12 june 2007. * * * this briefing is to clarify some pertinent issues regarding the state of springbank, and to reassure the nigerian public that the banking system is the safest and soundest it has ever been in its history, and that the cbn and ndic will take all necessary measures to protect all depositors of the banking system. i : banking sector consolidation : progress so far as you are all aware, the banking sector consolidation programme was necessitated by the pervasive weaknesses and uncertainty of the banking system, and the need to re - engineer and fast - track a system that will engender confidence and power a new economy. so far, the grand objectives of that policy are being achieved, and our consolidation programme has been adjudged about the most successful in the world. the world is celebrating nigeria ’ s success, and over $ 1 billion of foreign investment has gone into the sector within the last 12 months, and several hundred millions of dollars are still pouring in. the non - performing loans as percentage of total loans have gone down from about 23 % before consolidation to less than 8 % currently ; total deposits have almost doubled, and credit to the private sector growing astronomically ( annualized at 72 % within the first four months in 2007 ). today, individual banks can finance big projects valued at hundreds of millions of dollars and also operate in the oil and gas sector – a feat they never could do before now. interest rates are gradually coming down. as at today, there are over 3, 866 branches of commercial banks, up from 3, 200 prior to consolidation and the total employment in the sector far higher than prior to consolidation. by end 2007, there will be about 7 or more banks with shareholders fund in excess of $ 1 billion, and over 10 banks with market capitalization of over $ 2 billion each ( there was none in 2004 ). today, nigeria has the fastest growing banking system in africa, and one of the fastest in the world. as seasoned commentators have observed, it has taken nigeria less than three years to achieve what it took south africa 20 years to achieve in the area of banking. to put it succinctly, a new banking system has emerged, and will only get stronger

financial centre grew in scale, sophistication, and connectedness with the rest of the world. take financial misconduct. you would recall the widespread manipulation of interest rate benchmarks by errant traders across the world ’ s major financial centres in the aftermath of the financial crisis. and it happened here too. mas reviewed the controls of all 19 rate - setting banks in singapore and took firm supervisory actions against them, including requiring them to place additional reserves with mas, which imposed a financial cost. we worked closely with the association of banks in singapore ( abs ) to strengthen governance and conduct in the process for setting benchmark rates. and more recently in the limelight, the scourge of international money laundering. combating money laundering and illicit financing is a national effort. in 2014, a multiagency team under the leadership of mas, the ministry of finance, and the ministry of home affairs, published a national risk assessment report on the money laundering and terrorist financing risks faced by singapore in both the financial and non - financial sectors. the report found that, like other major international financial and business centres, singapore faced a high inherent risk of being used as a conduit for illicit funds. the many agencies worked with their respective sectors to strengthen the framework for anti - money laundering and countering financing of terrorism – aml / cft for short. the financial sector is particularly vulnerable to money laundering and illicit financing risks. this vulnerability is part of our karma as an international financial centre. billions of dollars flow every day through hundreds of financial institutions ( fis ) in singapore. and given our prominence and growth as a wealth management centre, that vulnerability is even greater. the ongoing probe into financial transactions related to 1mdb is a stark reminder to us that the risks are real. it would not be proper for me to say anything about the ongoing investigations beyond the joint statement issued last week. it would also not be proper for me to comment on any specific institution beyond mas ’ statement last week because the supervisory examinations are still ongoing and we have to be fair to the institutions. the two statements last week are unprecedented. we have already said a lot more publicly than we usually do when investigations and reviews have not been completed yet. instead, i want to focus today on what the findings imply for our financial sector. there is no doubt that the recent findings have made a dent in our reputation as a clean and trusted financial centre. mas is disappointed with the lapses in aml / cft controls