BUSINESS DAY
The legal quagmire in Nigeria’s oldest financial institution, FBN Holdings, has just got more complicated, with the largest single shareholder, Barbican Capital Limited taking out a lawsuit against the bank to protect its rights over shares held in the financial institution.
Barbican Capital went to court after it received notification that showed that FBN Holdings sought to reduce its five billion, three hundred and eighty-six million, three hundred and ninety-seven thousand, two hundred and two (5,386,397,202) total shareholding in the bank by 40 percent.
FBN Holdings sparked confusion in its December 2023 audited accounts released in May where it slashed Barbican’s shareholding in the bank to 3.1 billion (3,110,400,619) or 8.67 percent of the lender’s total shares from the earlier reported 4.8 billion (4,886,062,743) shares or 13.61 percent in its December 2023 unaudited accounts published in February.
A note attached to the audited accounts strangely said the 3.1 billion shares represent the total that had been “verified” by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
In its lawsuit against FBN Holdings, Barbican Capital attached a statement from the Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) as evidence of its total shares ownership.
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