CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA

PRUDENTIAL GUIDELINES FOR FINANCE COMPANINES IN NIGERIA

[AUGUST 2019]

[1ST DRAFT OF PGS FOR FC – JUNE 2019]

Table of Contents
PRUDENTIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR FINANCE COMPANIES .............................................................. 3

RISK MANAGEMENT ................................................................................................................................. 3

1. Credit Policy .................................................................................................................................. 3

2. Credit Concentration Policy ..................................................................................................... 4

3. Exposures to Directors and their Related Interests ............................................................. 5

4. Disclosure of Insider-related Credits in Financial Statements .......................................... 5

5. Lending Limits ................................................................................................................................ 5

6. Bankers Acceptances and Commercial Papers ................................................................ 6

7. Basic Information on Borrowers................................................................................................ 6

8. Minimum Information on Credit Print-Outs ........................................................................... 7

9. Revaluation of Fixed Assets ....................................................................................................... 8

10. Management of Market Risk ................................................................................................ 8

11. Liquidity Requirements ........................................................................................................... 8

12. Maintenance of Reserve Fund ............................................................................................ 9

13. Capital Adequacy Requirements ....................................................................................... 9

14. Restrictions on Declaration of Dividends .......................................................................... 9

15. Credit Ratings.......................................................................................................................... 10

16. Write-Off of Fully Provided Credit Facilities ..................................................................... 10

17. Non-Performing Loans .......................................................................................................... 10

18. Investment in Fixed Assets ................................................................................................... 10

19. Investment in any Venture .................................................................................................. 11

20. Financial Assets and Income .............................................................................................. 11

21. Borrowing limits ....................................................................................................................... 11

22. Foreign Currency Borrowing ............................................................................................... 11

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 23. Other Known Losses .............................................................................................................. 11

24. Keeping of Proper Records ................................................................................................. 11

CODE OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE ........................................................................................... 12

KNOW-YOUR-CUSTOMER AND ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING MEASURES .................................. 12

1. Anti-Money Laundering Measures ........................................................................................ 12

2. Records Retention ..................................................................................................................... 12

3. Suspicious Transactions ............................................................................................................ 12

4. Implementation of Examination Report Recommendations ........................................ 12

LOAN CLASSIFICATION AND LOSS PROVISIONING ....................................................................... 13

1. Loan classification system ....................................................................................................... 13

2. Loan Loss Provisioning ............................................................................................................... 16

3. Collateral Adjustment for Lost Facilities ............................................................................... 17

4. Treatment of IFRS Impairment Charge for Prudential Purposes ................................... 19

5. Credit Portfolio Disclosure Requirement .............................................................................. 19

6. Interest Accrual .......................................................................................................................... 20

7. Classification and Provisioning for Other Assets ................................................................ 20

8. Off- Balance Sheet Engagements ........................................................................................ 21

FINANCIAL SOUNDNESS INDICATORS AND FINANCIAL RATIOS ................................................. 23

UPDATE OF THE PRUDENTIAL GUIDELINES......................................................................................... 23

EFFECTIVE DATE ....................................................................................................................................... 23

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PRUDENTIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR FINANCE COMPANIES
Every Finance Company (FC) shall comply with the following prudential
requirements:

1.0. RISK MANAGEMENT

1.1. Credit Policy
a. An FC shall put in place a comprehensive credit policy duly approved by
its Board of Directors.
b. The policy shall include the eligibility requirements for borrowers, the
products offered, terms and conditions for granting loans/facilities,
procedures for loan administration and disbursement, appropriate
monitoring mechanism and set out the standards to be used to manage
credit risk.
c. The policy shall also indicate the FC’s collateral requirements, including the
types of qualifying collateral and the collateral coverage for each type of
credit facility, if any, for the different types/classes of facilities.
d. Credit facilities shall be granted at non-preferential terms and conditions
that are clearly disclosed, and at prices that reflect the credit risk.
e. Investments in bankers’ acceptances and commercial papers shall be
treated as part of the loan portfolio.
f. The credit policy shall address lending to directors as part of lending to
related parties.
g. FCs shall register all movable collaterals with the National Collateral Registry
(NCR). Evidence of the NCR registration is a necessary part of the loan
documentation.
h. An FC shall have a Credit Portfolio Plan as part of its credit concentration
policy, which shall consider the following, among others:
a. The target market and portfolio size;
b. Macro-economic conditions, including fiscal and monetary policy
guidelines;
c. Minimum risk acceptance criteria;
d. The credit concentration policy;
e. Historical portfolio performance;
i. An FC shall review its credit portfolio plan on a quarterly basis to ensure that
the plan is still reflective of current market conditions. In the event of
adverse changes in the macro-economic environment or particular
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 sectors, industries or regions, appropriate review and mitigation strategies
shall be conducted.
j. The policy shall be reviewed at least every three (3) years.

1.2. Credit Concentration Policy

a. An FC shall have a board-approved credit concentration policy, covering
the different forms of credit risk concentration to which an FC may be
exposed. The policy shall include an effective system of internal controls to
identify, measure, monitor, and control credit risk concentration. Credit
concentration to which an FC may be exposed include:
i. Significant exposure to an individual counterparty or group of related
counterparties;
ii. Credit exposure to counterparties in the same economic sector or
geographic region; and
iii. Indirect credit exposure arising from an FC’s Credit Risk Mitigation
(CRM) activities (e.g. exposure to a single collateral type or to credit
protection provided by a single counterparty).
b. The policy shall specify concentration limits and the methodology for
calculating credit concentration. Limits should be defined in relation to an
FC’s capital, credit portfolio, total assets or, other appropriate measures.
c. In defining the portfolio concentration limits for industries or sectors, FCs shall
adopt the Standard Industry Classification of Economic Sectors (SIC) issued
by the CBN;
d. An FC’s management shall conduct stress tests of its credit portfolio at least
on a quarterly basis. The tests shall also consider the credit concentration
risk. The management shall review the results of the tests and make
adequate plans to respond to plausible adverse changes in market
conditions.

In assessing credit risk concentration of an FC, the CBN will consider the credit
concentration policy, the credit portfolio plan and the extent to which the
bank considers credit concentration as part of the subjective factors in making
specific provisions. Non-compliance with an FC’s established policy on credit
concentration and monitoring shall form a basis for supervisory action, which
may include additional loan loss provisions.

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1.3. Exposures to Directors and their Related Interests
FCs shall fully disclose their credit exposures to directors, significant
shareholders and other insiders in their financial statements and returns
prescribed by the CBN.

1.4. Disclosure of Insider-related Credits in Financial Statements

a. FCs shall disclose all transactions involving shareholders, employees,
directors and their related/connected interests. Insider-related credits
include credits to shareholders, employees, directors and their related
interests.
b. The disclosure required to be presented in the financial statements is as
follows:
(i) The aggregate amount of insider-related loans, advances and leases
outstanding as at the financial year end shall be separately stated in
a note to the accounts and the non-performing component further
analysed by security, maturity, performance, provision, interest-in
suspense and name of borrowers.
(ii) Notes to the accounts on commitments and other contingent liabilities
shall also provide details of those arising from related-party
transactions.
(iii) The external auditors and audit committees shall include in their report,
their opinion on related-party credits.
The requirements of this section do not apply to credits extended to
employees under their employment scheme of service, or to shareholders
whose shareholding and related interests are less than 5 per cent of the
bank’s paid up capital as at the date of the financial report or to public
limited liability companies in which a director has an interest that is less than
5 per cent.

1.5. Lending Limits

a) The maximum loan to any borrower or group of related borrowers shall be
20 per cent of the FC’s shareholders’ funds unimpaired by losses.
b) Aggregate large exposures of an FC shall not exceed five (5) times the
shareholders fund unimpaired by losses. Loans under a staff scheme are
excluded but shall be in accordance with the conditions of service.

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 c) A large exposure is any credit to a customer or a group related borrowers
that is at least 10 per cent of an FC’s shareholders fund unimpaired by
losses.
d) A director or a significant shareholder shall not borrow more than 1 per cent
of shareholders’ funds unimpaired by losses.
e) The aggregate credit facilities to all insiders and their related parties shall
not exceed 10 per cent of shareholders’ funds.

1.6. Bankers Acceptances and Commercial Papers

The issuance and treatment of BAs and CPs shall be in line with the CBN’s
“Guidelines on the issuance and treatment of Bankers Acceptances and
Commercial Papers” issued on November 18, 2009 or as may be advised by
the CBN.

1.7. Basic Information on Borrowers

An FC shall:
a) Ensure that every borrower completes the Loan Application Form (LAF)
designed by the FC and that the LAF is approved by relevant officers or
organs of the FC.
b) Ensure that the LAF contains such information as the FC may require to
evaluate the application, which may include recent audited financial
statements/management accounts, projected cash flows, and records of
past bank accounts.
c) Obtain credit reports within 30 days prior to the disbursement of facilities
from at least two (2) credit bureaux before granting any facility to a
customer. The result of the enquiry shall be documented in the credit file of
the customer. In addition, compliance with the CBN Circular
OFI/DIR/CIR/GEN/17/151 issued on May 10, 2017 on Data Exchange
Agreement with at least two licensed Credit Bureaux is mandatory.
d) Provide evidence that a search has been conducted on the borrower in
the CBN’s Credit Risk Management System (CRMS) database.
e) Obtain the Bank Verification Number (BVN) of individual borrowers and
directors of corporate borrowers.
f) Obtain the Tax Identification Number (TIN) of corporate borrowers.
g) Obtain information on entities related to the borrowers.

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 h) Maintain credit files whether in electronic, print or other form, on all its
borrowers, which shall contain adequate and timely information on the
credit-worthiness of the borrowers to enable:
i. proper and effective monitoring of credit facilities extended by the FC;
and
ii. examiners, as well as the bank’s internal and external auditors, to have
immediate and complete factual information from which they can
form an objective opinion on the credit facilities.
i) Maintain basic information (including those set out in the Annexure 1,
where applicable), on the following to enable an objective evaluation of
the quality of each facility:
i. the borrower;
ii. the credit facility;
iii. the appraisal of the credit application;
iv. the conduct and status of the account;
v. an offer letter showing conditions for draw down; and
vi. evidence of acceptance of offer by the borrower.

1.8. Minimum Information on Credit Print-Outs

All FCs should provide the following minimum details in their credit printouts:
i. Account number of customer;
ii. Name of customer;
iii. Type of facility;
iv. Date facility was granted;
v. Interest Rate;
vi. Authorized limit of facility;
vii. Original expiry date;
viii. Restructure Date (if any);
ix. Balance on account;
x. Date of last lodgment or credit operation by the customer; and
xi. Sector/Industry;
xii. Type and value of security pledged;
xiii. Borrower’s BVN or TIN;
xiv. Evidence of NCR registration.

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1.9. Revaluation of Fixed Assets
The prior approval of the CBN shall be obtained by an FC before the
recognition of revaluation surplus on fixed assets in its books. The valuation shall
be made by qualified professional(s) whose identity and qualifications are
stated, with the valuation basis clearly shown. FCs are to note that revaluation
of fixed assets is applicable to own premises only.

1.10. Management of Market Risk

a) FCs are required to institute strategies to manage market risk including the
development of risk appetite, appropriate policies, processes, and
organization structures to support ongoing management and
quantification market risk
b) In addition to any hedging instruments held, an FC shall be required to
match its long-term loans to borrowers with liabilities of similar
characteristics and duration so as to maintain minimal risk exposure to
fluctuations in market interest rates.
c) An FC shall employ appropriate risk management tools to assess and report
to the CBN each quarter its market risk exposure.

1.11. Liquidity Requirements

a) The liquidity ratio shall be the proportion of liquid assets to borrowings due
within one (1) year.
b) An FC shall maintain at all times sufficient liquid assets to meet its maturing
obligations in amounts that comply with a minimum liquidity ratio of 10 per
cent or as may be prescribed by the CBN.
c) An FC shall adopt and implement sound and prudent liquidity
management framework, which shall describe in detail its Asset Liability
Management (ALM) Policy and be overseen by its Asset/Liability
Management or similar Committee.
d) An FC’s liquidity management framework shall include:
i. Techniques that effectively identify, measure and manage its liquidity
risk.
ii. Periodic analyses of net funding requirements under alternative
scenarios.
iii. Contingent liquidity planning.

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1.12. Maintenance of Reserve Fund
a) Every FC shall maintain a reserve fund appropriated out of its net profits for
each year (after adequate provision has been made for taxation and
before any dividend is declared), where the amount of the reserve funds
is:
i. Less than the paid-up share capital, transfer to the reserve fund a sum
equal to not less than 15% of the net profits; and
ii. Equal to or in excess of the paid-up share capital, transfer to the reserve
fund a sum equal to not less than 10% of the net profit.
b) The CBN may vary the proportion of net profit transferable to the reserve
fund.
c) No accretion shall be made to the reserve fund until:
i. All preliminary and pre-operational expenses have been written off;
ii. Adequate provision has been made for loan loss/assets deterioration;
iii. All identifiable losses have been fully provided for.

1.13. Capital Adequacy Requirements

a) An FC shall commence operations with, and maintain at all times, a
minimum paid-up capital as may be prescribed by the CBN.
b) The Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of an FC shall be measured as the ratio
of qualifying capital to its risk weighted assets.
c) The minimum CAR for each FC shall be 12.5 per cent or as may be
prescribed by the CBN from time to time.
d) An FC shall maintain a ratio of not more than 1:10 of its shareholders’ funds
unimpaired by losses to its net credits.
e) FCs that do not possess adequate capital shall be classified in line with the
Supervisory Intervention Framework and appropriate actions taken in line
with the Framework.
In line with the Supervisory Intervention Framework, FCs that do not possess
adequate capital may be classified and supervisory actions taken as
indicated in the framework.

1.14. Restrictions on Declaration of Dividends

No dividend shall be paid until after:
a) All accumulated losses have been fully absorbed and written off.
b) All preliminary and pre-operational expenses have been written off.
c) Capital Adequacy ratio has been met.
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 d) All matured obligations have been met.

1.15. Credit Ratings

a) FCs shall have a board-approved credit rating policy and model for rating
counterparties/obligors and sectors. The ratings of obligors shall be
updated, at least, on a quarterly basis.
b) In measuring credit risk of loans and advances to customers and/or
counterparty level, FCs must ensure that the following components are
considered:
(i) The probability of default of the obligor;
(ii) The exposure at default;
(iii) The loss given default;
(iv) Forward looking information; and
(v) The peculiarities of the sector in which the obligor operates.

1.16. Write-Off of Fully Provided Credit Facilities

The following conditions shall apply to the write off of fully provisioned credit
facilities:
a) The facility must have been fully provided for in line with the loan loss
provisioning guidelines and must be in FC’s book for at least one year after
full provision.
b) The write-off shall be approved by the FC’s board of directors.
c) If the facility is insider or related party credit, the prior written approval of
CBN is also required.
d) The write-off shall be appropriately disclosed in the audited financial
statements.

1.17. Non-Performing Loans

The maximum ratio of non-performing loans to total gross loans for FCs shall not
at any point in time exceed 10 per cent or such other level as may be
prescribed by the CBN from time to time.

1.18. Investment in Fixed Assets

The maximum amount that an FC may invest in fixed assets is 20 per cent of its
shareholders’ funds unimpaired by losses.

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1.19. Investment in any Venture
An FC shall not invest more than 20 per cent of its shareholders’ funds
unimpaired by losses in any venture without prior approval of the CBN.

1.20. Financial Assets and Income

The financial assets to total assets ratio of an FC shall not be less than 75 per
cent. Also, at least 75 per cent of its income shall be derived from the principal
activities of an FC.

1.21. Borrowing limits

a. The minimum amount that an FC can borrow from an individual is N50,000
and from a corporate body, N2,000,000.
b. The maximum total borrowings of an FC shall not be more than 10 times its
shareholders’ funds unimpaired by losses.

1.22. Foreign Currency Borrowing

In line with CBN letter OFI/DIR/DOC/GEN/018/271 on foreign borrowing dated
February 12, 2018, the aggregate foreign currency borrowing of an FC shall
not exceed 125% of its shareholders’ funds unimpaired by losses or such other
level as the CBN may specify from time to time. In addition, FCs shall borrow
and lend in the same currency (natural hedging) to avoid currency mismatch
associated with foreign currency risk. They shall ensure that the basis of the
interest rate for borrowing matches that of lending i.e. floating rate liabilities
shall be used to create only floating rate assets and fixed interest rates liabilities
used to create only fixed rate assets.

1.23. Other Known Losses

All assets for which the net realizable value has fallen below the carrying value
shall have the difference in value recognized and charged to the income
account as “other known losses”.

1.24. Keeping of Proper Records

FCs shall keep proper records of all transactions as may be required by the
CBN. Such documents should be arranged sequentially and be made
available to CBN and other regulatory authorities on demand.

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1.25. Implementation of Examination Report Recommendations
The Board and management of FCs shall ensure the implementation of all
recommendations contained in the CBN Examination Reports.

2. CODE OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

All FCs shall comply with the provisions of the Code of Corporate Governance
for Finance Companies as issued by the CBN Circular FPR/DIR/CIR/GEN/07/017
dated October 26, 2018 or any other relevant circular(s) as the CBN may issue
from time to time.

3. KNOW-YOUR-CUSTOMER AND ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING

MEASURES
FCs shall be required to comply with the principles and procedures of Know
Your Customer (KYC) and relevant circulars issued by the CBN.

3.1. Anti-Money Laundering Measures

FCs shall be required to comply with the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2011,
CBN AML/CFT (for Banks and Other Financial Institutions) Regulation 2013 and
relevant circulars issued by the CBN.

3.2. Records Retention

FCs shall keep records on all transactions for a minimum period of six (6) years
and shall retain such records for a longer period where the transactions relate
to litigation or are required by a court of law or by any other competent
authority.

3.3. Suspicious Transactions

FCs should pay special attention to all complex, unusually large transactions,
and all unusual patterns of transactions, which have no apparent economic
or visible lawful purpose. Examples of such suspicious transactions are as listed
in Schedule III of the CBN AML/CFT Regulation, 2013.

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4. OAN CLASSIFICATION AND LOSS PROVISIONING
4.1. Loan classification system
a. FCs shall review their credit portfolio continuously (at least once in a
quarter) with a view to recognising deterioration in credit quality. Such
reviews shall classify the credit exposures based on the risk of default.
b. In order to facilitate comparability of FCs’ classification of their credit
portfolios, the assessment of risk of default shall be based on criteria which
shall include, but are not limited to repayment performance and
borrower’s repayment capacity on the basis of current financial condition.
c. For syndicated facilities, the classification shall be the same across all FCs
involved in the syndication. Thus, the worst classification by any of the FCs
involved in the syndication shall apply across board.
d. Credit facilities shall be classified as “performing”, “watchlist” or “non-
performing” as defined below:
1. Performing facility: A credit facility is deemed to be performing if all due
principal and interest have been settled or if not past due by more than
30 days.
2. Watchlist facility: – A facility where principal and/or interest is past due
by 31 to 90 days;
3. Non-performing facility: A credit facility shall be deemed as non-
performing when any of the following conditions exists:
i. interest or principal is past due for more than 90 days;
ii. interest past due for 91 days or more have been capitalised,
rescheduled or rolled over into a new loan;
iii. off balance sheet obligations crystallise.
e. Non-performing credit facilities shall be classified into three categories
namely, sub-standard, doubtful or lost on the basis of the criteria below:
(1) Sub-Standard
The following objective and subjective criteria shall be used to identify
sub-standard credit facilities:

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 i. Objective Criteria: credit facilities on which past due principal
and/or interest remain outstanding for at least 91 days but not more
than 180 days.
ii. Subjective Criteria:
a. Credit facilities which display well defined weaknesses which
could affect the ability of borrowers to repay such as inadequate
cash flow to service debt, undercapitalisation or insufficient
working capital, absence of adequate financial information or
collateral documentation, irregular payment of principal and/or
interest, non-performing facilities with other banks and inactive
accounts where withdrawals exceed repayments or where
repayments can hardly cover interest charges.
b. Significant deterioration in credit rating of the borrower/obligor
between initial recognition and the reporting date.
c. Significant financial difficulty of the borrower.
d. Grant of concessions to the borrower/obligor by its lender(s) for
economic or contractual reasons relating to the
borrower/obligor’s financial difficulty, especially where the
lender(s) would not ordinarily consider such concession(s).
e. It is probable that the borrower will enter bankruptcy or other
financial reorganization.
f. The purchase or origination of a financial asset at a deep
discount that reflects credit losses.
(2) Doubtful
The following objective and subjective criteria shall be used to
identify doubtful credit facilities:
a. Objective Criteria: credit facilities on which unpaid principal
and/or interest remain outstanding for at least 181 days but not
more than 360 days.
b. Subjective Criteria: credit facilities which, in addition to the
weaknesses associated with sub-standard credit facilities
reflect that full repayment of the debt is not certain or that

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 realisable collateral values will be insufficient to cover bank’s
exposure.
(3) Lost Credit Facilities
The following objective and subjective criteria shall be used to
identify lost credit facilities:
a. Objective Criteria: facilities on which unpaid principal
and/or interest remain outstanding for more than 360
days and off-balance sheet engagements that have
crystalized.
b. Subjective Criteria: facilities which in addition to the
weaknesses associated with doubtful credit facilities, are
considered uncollectible and are of such little value that
continuation as a bankable asset is unrealistic such as
facilities that have been abandoned, facilities secured
with unmarketable and unrealizable securities and
facilities extended to judgment debtors with no means
or foreclosable collateral to settle debts.
f. A restructured or rolled-over facility shall not be treated as a new facility.
g. Where a credit facility already classified as “non-performing” is renewed,
restructured or rolled-over, that facility shall retain its previous classification
as if the renewal, restructuring or roll over did not occur.
h. When a facility rescheduling is agreed with a customer, provisioning shall
continue until it is clear that the rescheduling is working, at a minimum, for
a period of 90 days.
i. For a “non-performing” or “watchlist” facility to be re-classified as
“performing”, outstanding interest and due but unpaid principal shall not
exceed 30 days. Similarly, for a “non-performing” facility to can be re-
classified as “watchlist”, outstanding interest and due but unpaid principal
shall not exceed 90 days.

j. FCs are required to adopt the criteria specified in paragraphs 4(1)(a) to 4

(1)(e) to classify their credit portfolios in order to reflect the recoverable
values of their credit facilities.

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 k. FC should note that the CBN reserves the right to object to the classification
of any credit facility and to prescribe the classification it considers
appropriate for such credit facility.

4.2. Loan Loss Provisioning

(a) FCs are required to make adequate provisions for perceived losses based
on the credit portfolio classification system prescribed in paragraph 4 (1).
Two types of provisions (that is specific and general) are considered
adequate to achieve this objective.
(b) Specific provisions are made on the basis of perceived risk of default on
credit facilities while general provisions are made in recognition of the fact
that a performing credit facility may be inherently risky.
(c) Consequently, FCs shall make provisions for credits as specified below:

i. General Provision - 2 per cent of the outstanding balance of performing

facilities or as may be advised by the CBN from time to time.
ii. Specific provisions shall be applied as follows:
aa. For facilities classified as non-performing, interest overdue by more
than 90 days shall be fully (100 per cent) provided for and
recognized on cash basis only.
ab. For facilities classified as non-performing, principal repayments
that are past due shall be fully (100 per cent) provided for and
recognized on cash basis only.
ac. For outstanding principal of facilities classified as “watchlist”, 5 per
cent provision on the outstanding principal amount.
ad. For principal repayments that are not yet due on non-performing
credit facilities, provisions shall be made on the outstanding
principal balance as follows:
▪ Sub-Standard: 20 per cent;
▪ Doubtful: 50 per cent; and
▪ Lost: 100 per cent.

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4.3. Collateral Adjustment for Lost Facilities
a. To encourage utilisation of more credit enhancement and mitigation
strategies, collateral adjustments shall be applied in loan provisioning.
1. For collateral to be considered for “Haircut Adjustments”, it must be:
i. Perfected;
ii. Realisable, with no restrictions on sale; and
iii. Regularly valued with transparent method of valuation;
2. All documentation used in collateralized transactions must be binding on
all parties and legally enforceable in all jurisdictions. FCs must conduct
sufficient legal review to verify this and have a well-founded legal basis
to reach this conclusion, and undertake such further review as necessary
to ensure continuing enforceability.
3. Valuations of residential and commercial properties shall be carried out
by an independent professional valuer. The valuer, while assigning any
values to the mortgaged residential and commercial property, shall take
into account all relevant factors affecting the saleability of such assets
including any difficulty in obtaining their possession, their location,
condition and the prevailing economic conditions in the relevant sector,
business or industry.
4. The values of mortgaged residential and commercial properties so
determined by the valuer must be a reasonably good estimate of the
amount that could currently be obtained by selling such assets in a
forced/distressed sale condition. Valuers shall also mention in their report
the assumptions made, the calculations/formulae/bases used and the
method adopted in the determination of the values i.e. the forced sale
value (FSV).
5. The following are collateral instruments that are eligible for haircut:
i. Treasury bills and other government securities.
ii. Quoted equities and other traded securities.
iii. Bank guarantees and receivables of blue chip companies.
iv. Residential legal mortgage.
v. Commercial legal mortgage

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 vi. Other collaterals as defined by the CBN from time to time.
6. The following hair cut adjustments shall be applicable on all loan types
classified as lost:

Description of Collateral Haircut

Cash adjustments
0%
weightings
Treasury Bills and government securities e.g. bonds 0%
Quoted equities and other traded securities 20%
Bank guarantees and Receivables of blue chip 20%
companies
Residential legal mortgage 50%
Commercial legal mortgage 50%

7. The haircuts adjustment weightings shall be taken into consideration in

arriving at the adjusted provisions for facilities classified as lost. The
adjusted provisions shall be derived as follows:
Required Provision = E – {VC X (1- HW)}
Where,
E = Total Exposure
HW = haircut weightings
VC = Value of Collateral
If {VC X (1-HW)} is greater than E then no provision is required.
The value of collateral for quoted equities and other traded securities
shall be market value while for mortgages, it shall be forced sale value
(FSV).
8. The CBN will review the list of eligible collaterals and the haircut
adjustments applicable from time to time.

b. Other Conditions for Haircut Adjustments

1. The non-performing facilities requiring haircut adjustments and the
haircut adjustment calculations including valuation of collaterals shall
be reviewed by the FC’s auditors and must be ratified by the CBN.
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 2. For the purpose of (1) above, review of valuation by external auditors
does not fall under appraisal or valuation services prohibited by the
Code of Corporate Governance.
3. A maximum of 1 year is allowed for the haircut adjustments pending
which the collaterals shall be realized and shortfall in provision taken.
If the facility on which haircut adjustment has been applied remains non-
performing after one year, then the haircut adjustment will be disregarded.

4.4. Treatment of IFRS Impairment Charge for Prudential Purposes

FCs shall compute impairment charge on financial instruments and off-
balance sheet engagements as prescribed in the relevant IFRS.
a. The IFRS impairment charge shall be compared with provisions
determined under these Guidelines and the difference shall be treated
as follows:
i. If prudential provisions are greater than IFRS impairment charge, the
difference shall be transferred from the general reserve to a non-
distributable regulatory risk reserve.
ii. If prudential provisions are less than IFRS impairment charge, the
difference shall be transferred from the regulatory risk reserve
account to the general reserve to the extent of the non-distributable
regulatory risk reserve previously recognized.
b. The non-distributable regulatory risk reserve shall not be recognised as a
component of qualifying capital.

4.5. Credit Portfolio Disclosure Requirement

a. An FC shall provide in its audited financial statements, an analysis of its
credit portfolio into “performing”, “watchlist”, and “non-performing” as
defined in these Guidelines.
b. The amount of provision for deterioration in credit quality (that is, losses)
shall be segregated between principal and interest.
c. A maturity profile of credit facilities based on contracted repayment
programme, shall be provided along with the maturity profile of
deposit liabilities in the financial statement.

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 d. An FC is also to provide a vintage analysis of its portfolio as follows:
<= 1 > 1 year <=3 > 3 Total
year years years

N N N N

Performing

Watchlist

Non-
performing

Total

4.6. Interest Accrual

a. It is the responsibility of an FC’s management to recognize interest
revenues when they are earned or realized and make provision for all
losses as soon as they can be reasonably estimated.
b. However, interest on non-performing credit facilities overdue by more
than 90 days shall be fully (100 per cent) provided for and recognized
on cash basis only.

4.7. Classification and Provisioning for Other Assets

a. The term “other assets” relates to those asset items that are not shown
separately in the balance sheet of an FC. These items include
impersonal accounts (of various descriptions), suspense accounts such
as frauds and cashiers’ shortages, cheques purchased, uncleared
effects and inter-branch items. The accounts could contain long
outstanding items, the origins of which had been forgotten,
untraceable or irreconcilable. In situations like these, the items if not
material shall be written off and where material (i.e. at least 10 per cent
of aggregate balance of other assets) shall be classified as shown
below. It shall be noted that items enumerated below are by no means
exhaustive:

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 1. Sub-Standard
Fraud cases of up to 1 month but less than 3 months old and under
police investigation regardless of the likely outcome of the cases.
A minimum provision of 20 per cent shall be made for “other
assets” classified as sub-standard.
2. Doubtful
Items for doubtful classification shall include, but are not limited to
outstanding fraud cases of 3 to 6 months old, with slim chances of
full recovery.
A minimum of 50 per cent provision shall be made for “other
assets” classified as doubtful.
3. Lost
Items for lost classification shall include, but are not limited to the
following:
i. Cheques purchased and uncleared effects over 30 days old
and for which values had been given.
ii. Outstanding fraud cases over 6 months old and involving
protracted litigation.
iii. Inter-branch items over 30 days old whether or not the origins
are known.
iv. All other intangible suspense accounts over 30 days old.
Full provision (i.e. 100 per cent) shall be accorded to items classified
lost.

4.8. Off- Balance Sheet Engagements

a. A proper appraisal of off-balance sheet engagements shall be
undertaken with a view to determining the extent of loss a bank may
likely sustain. Off-balance-sheet engagements include standby letters
of credit, bonds, guarantees, indemnities, acceptances, and pending
or protracted litigations (the outcome of which may not be easily
determined).

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b. The following factors shall be taken into consideration in recognizing
losses on Off-Balance-Sheet engagements:
i. Date the liability was incurred
ii. Expiry date
iii. Security pledge
iv. Performance of other facilities being enjoyed by the customer, e.g.
loans and advances
v. Perceived Risk.
c. Non-performing off balance sheet engagements shall be recognized
on the balance sheet, classified lost and provisions made in line with
Section 4 (1) and 4 (2).
d. Off-balance sheet engagements shall not form part of balance sheet
totals while their disclosure in note form shall distinguish between:
i. direct credit substitutes, e.g. general guarantees of indebtedness
(including standby letters of credit serving as financial guarantees
for loans and securities), and acceptances (including
endorsements with the character of acceptances)
ii. certain transaction-related contingent items (e.g. performance
bonds, bid bonds, warranties and standby letters of credit related
to particular transactions;
iii. sale and repurchase agreements and assets sales with recourse,
where the credit risk remains with the bank;
iv. similar commitments with an original maturity of up to one year, or
which can be unconditionally cancelled at any time;
v. commitments that are unconditionally cancellable, or that
effectively provide for automatic cancellation due to deterioration
in a borrower’s creditworthiness;
vi. lending of FCs’ securities or the posting of securities as collateral by
FCs, including instances where these arise out of repo-style
transactions (i.e. repurchase/reverse repurchase and securities
lending/securities borrowing transactions); and

22
 vii. other commitments (e.g. formal standby facilities and credit lines)
with an original maturity of not more than one year.
e. FCs shall make a general provision of 1 per cent of the credit equivalent
value (CEV) of off-balance sheet engagements.
f. To compute the CEV, FCs shall apply a credit conversion factor of 50 per
cent to all categories of off-balance sheet engagements.

5. FINANCIAL SOUNDNESS INDICATORS AND FINANCIAL RATIOS

a) An FC shall, as part of its risk management framework, institute a process for
computing financial ratios and financial soundness indicators for assessing
its financial health.
b) Benchmarks should be set and actual results computed and compared to
the benchmarks at least on a quarterly basis. The report should be
presented to the Board of Directors or appropriate Board Committees for
deliberation and remedial actions as considered necessary;
c) Illustrative examples of financial soundness indicators and financial ratios
are presented in Annexures 3 and 4.

6. UPDATE OF THE PRUDENTIAL GUIDELINES

The CBN shall review these Guidelines as and when necessary but not later
than five years from the effective date set out below.

7. EFFECTIVE DATE
These Guidelines shall take effect from January 1, 2020.

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 Annexure 1

INFORMATION TO BE MAINTAINED IN CREDIT FILES

(a) Information on borrower:

i. Natural Persons – Occupation, Employer, Salary/Income, Financial

position/net worth and any other relevant information.
ii. Others – Constitution (proprietorship, partnership, private company,
public company, society, club, co-operative, statutory board),
business background and history, organization structure,
management team/directors, shareholders/proprietor/partners,
financial position and performance, and any other relevant
information as may be prescribed by the CBN.
(b) Information on credit facility:

i. Description of facility type

ii. Purpose of facility
iii. Terms of facility – limits, interest rates, repayment schedules, expiry
dates
iv. Collateral – types, valuation amount, valuation date and where
applicable, name of the valuer
v. Guarantors – names, financial position and net worth

(c) Information for appraisal of credit application:

(Certain information would not be applicable for borrowers who are natural
persons.)
(1) Assessment and recommendations of account officer/manager
(2) Approval and basis of approval by management/credit committee
(3) Qualitative analyses based on:
i. borrower Information
ii. history of relationship with customer
iii. information on the banking relationship of other related groups of the
borrower with the bank

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 iv. information obtained on the borrower from other institutions and
sources, including related offices of the bank
v. analysis of industry and business risk
vi. single customer concentration (if appropriate)

(4) Quantitative analyses based on:

i. Financial position and performance (previous, current and
projected)
ii. Business plans, sources and cash flow forecast for meeting
repayment requirements
(5) Capital resources
(6) Other commitments
(7) Collateral appraisal and value

(d) Information for periodic credit review

(Certain information would not be applicable for borrowers who are natural
persons.)
(1) Assessment and recommendations of credit review officer, including:
i. Credit grading/rating accorded
ii. Provision for losses
iii. Suspension of interest
(2) Approval and basis of approval for renewals; revision in terms and
conditions; and changes in credit grading
(3) Latest available information on:
i. Outstanding facilities utilized, including contingent liabilities,
commitments and other off-balance sheet transactions
ii. Conduct and servicing of account
iii. Correspondences and call reports from meetings with borrowers and
site visits
iv. Current qualitative analyses based on latest updated
v. Information on borrower, including review comments from internal
and external auditors where available

25
 (4) Current quantitative analyses based on latest updated financial
information, appraisals and valuations
(5) Information on the account conduct of other related groups of the
borrower
(6) Analysis of industry and business risk

Annexure 2
Financial Soundness Indicators

Indicator Indicates Comments and basis of computation

Capital Broad measure of capital including items

adequacy giving less protection against losses, such as
subordinated debt, tax credits, unrealized
Regulatory capital to capital gains
risk- weighted assets

Total qualifying capital x 100

Risk weighted assets

Capital Highest quality capital such as shareholder

adequacy equity/ retained earnings, relative to risk
Regulatory Tier 1 weighted assets
capital to risk
weighted assets
Total tier 1 capital x 100
Risk weighted assets

Regulatory Tier 2 Capital Tier 2 capital relative to risk weighted

capital to risk adequacy assets
weighted assets

Total tier 2 capital x 100

Risk weighted assets

26
Indicator Indicates Comments and basis of computation

Capital Indicates potential size of additional

adequacy provisions that may be needed relative to
Non-performing
capital
loans net of
provision to capital NPL – Provision X 100
Total qualifying capital

Capital Broad measure of capital adequacy which

adequacy is a buffer for losses
Capital to assets
Total qualifying capital X 100
Total assets

Asset Indicates the credit quality of banks’ loans

Non-performing
quality
loans to total gross Non-performing loans X 100
loans
Gross loans

Asset Identifies exposures concentrations to

Sectoral distribution quality particular sectors
of loans to total
Loans per Sector X 100
loans
Gross loans

Asset Identifies credit exposure to large borrowers

quality

Aggregate large exposure X 100

Large exposures to
Total qualifying capital
capital
A large exposure is any credit to a customer
or a group of related borrowers that is at
least 10% of a bank’s shareholders fund
unimpaired by losses

Asset Identifies credit exposure concentrations to

quality particular countries by the banking system
Geographical
distribution of loans
to total loans
Loans per defined geographical area X
100

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Indicator Indicates Comments and basis of computation
Gross loans

Earnings/ Assesses scope for earnings to offset losses

profitability relative to capital or loan and asset
portfolio
Return on assets
PAT x 100
Total assets

Earnings/ Indicates importance of net interest

profitability income and scope to absorb losses
Interest margin to
gross income Net interest income
Gross Income

Earnings/ Indicates extent to which non-interest

profitability expenses weaken earnings
Non-interest
expenses to gross
income Non-interest expense
Gross Income

Liquidity Assesses the overall liquidity status of the

bank
Liquid assets to total
assets Specified liquid assets x 100
Total assets

Liquidity Assesses the vulnerability of the bank to loss

of access to market sources of funding or a
Liquid assets to short run on deposits
term liabilities
Specified liquid assets x 100
Deposits due within one year

Liquidity Market indicator of counterparty risks in the

inter-bank market
Spread between
highest and lowest
inter-bank rate Highest interbank rate – Lowest interbank
rate

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Indicator Indicates Comments and basis of computation

Liquidity Assesses the vulnerability to loss of access to

Customer deposits customer deposits
to total (non-inter-
Customer deposits x 100
bank) loans
Loans and advances to customers

Exposure Measures foreign currency mismatch

Net open position in to FX risk
foreign exchange to
capital Net Open Position
Total Capital

Exposure Measures risk to loan portfolios from

to FX risk exchange rate movements
Foreign currency-
denominated loans
to total loans Naira value of FCY loans x 100
Loans and advances to customers and
banks

Exposure Measures extent of dollarization

Foreign currency- to FX risk
denominated
liabilities to total Naira value of FCY liabilities x 100
liabilities
Total liabilities

Earnings/ Indicates extent to which earnings are

profitability available to cover losses

Return on equity
PAT x 100
Shareholders’ fund

Earnings/ Indicates dependence on trading income

profitability
Trading income to
total income Net trading income x 100
Gross earnings

29
Indicator Indicates Comments and basis of computation

Earnings/ Indicates the extent to which high non-

profitability interest expenses reduces earnings
Staff costs to non- Staff costs x 100
interest expenses
Other operating expenses

Earnings/ Indicates dependence of earnings on the

Spread between profitability interest rate spread.
reference lending
and deposit rates
(Reference lending rate – deposit rate) %

Total debt to equity Leverage Provides indication of credit risk

Debt securities issued x 100

Shareholders fund

Debt Indicates extent to which earnings cover

service losses are reduced by interest and
capacity principal payments
Earnings to interest
and principal
expenses PAT x 100
Interest & principal payments on debt
securities

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 Annexure 3
Financial Ratios

FINANCIAL RATIO MEASURES BASIS OF COMPUTATION

Average cost of deposits

Earnings/ Interest expense
profitability
Average deposit (i.e. opening +
closing balances)/2

Basic earnings per Earnings/ Profit attributable to ordinary

share profitability shareholders
(after deduction of debenture int. and
tax)
Weighted average no of shares in issue

Cost to income ratio Earnings/ Total cost (interest expense, operating

(1) profitability cost before loan loss expense)/Gross
earnings

Cost to income ratio Earnings/ Total overhead cost (operating cost

(2) profitability including loan loss expense)/Total net
revenue

Cost of interest Earnings/ Interest expense

bearing liabilities profitability
Average interest-bearing liabilities
(opening + closing balances)/2

Cost of risk Earnings/ loan loss expense

profitability
Average loans (i.e. opening + closing
balances)/2

Marginal cost of Earnings/ Increase in int. expense during the

funds profitability month
Increase in average deposits during the
same month (annualized)

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FINANCIAL RATIO MEASURES BASIS OF COMPUTATION

Yield on interest Earnings/ Interest income

earning assets profitability
Weighted average interest earning
assets

Net Interest margin Earnings/ Net Interest Income

(1)
profitability Weighted average interest-earning
assets

Net Interest margin Earnings/pr Net interest income

(2) ofitability
Total interest income

Net revenue from Earnings/ Interest income - (interest expense +

funds profitability loan expense)

Operating profit Earnings/ Profit before taxation (PBT)

profitability

Operating profit Earnings/ Operating profit

margin profitability
Gross earnings

Liquidity ratio Liquidity Liquid assets

Deposit liabilities (as prescribed by the
CBN)

Loan to deposit ratio Liquidity Total loans

Total deposit

Provisioning level Asset Total provision

quality
Total NPL

Risk asset ratio Asset Total loans

quality
Total assets

Leverage ratio Capital Total debt capital x100

adequacy
Total shareholders’ fund

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