Business
CBN Plans To Absorb Bank Debts
The Asset Management Company (AMC) guaranteed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to absorb rescured banks’ bad debts would be set up in the first quarter of 2010.
Lamido Sanusi Lamido, CBN Govrnor said the company, which was initially planned to come on board before the end of 2009 would now be set up in the first quarter of 2010 as the legislative arm of the government could not finish its work to provide legal backing for the company.
“Now it’s looking like we may spill into early January because there were all sorts of holidays. We’re still optimistic we should get it out of the House of Representatives committee before they go on recess,” Sanusi said.
The CBN boss explained that the legislation would form an AMC, which will exchange bad bank loans for government bonds, is before parliament. He had hoped the legislation would be ready before the end of December but acknowledged that looked set to slip.
It would be recalled that all deposit money banks (DMBs) in Nigeria have announced financial results for the third quarter of 2009 in line with clearly defined and transparent reporting requirements.
CBN said the formation of AMC should facilitate an improvement in banking sector liquidity, protection of the earnings of banks from further erosion and a reduction of the debt overhang on the capital market and participants.
“This should provide a much needed fillip for the revival of the Nigerian capital market,” CBN said. The AMC is expected to take impaired assets off the bank’s balance sheets and replace them with government guaranteed bonds. This will provide liquidity in the entire Nigerian banking system and bolster the prospects for long-term growth.
Mohammed Abdullahi, the Head, Corporate Affairs of the CBN said, “the third quarter earnings announcements for a number of banks have included a level of provisions that have led to reported losses, reflecting the true position of the lending portfolios.
This has been particularly evident in the nine banks assessed to be in a “grave situation’ following the outcome of the combined CBN/NDIC examination”, losses waiting to be soaked up by the AMC.
Finance experts believe that potential investors are waiting to see how quickly an asset management company can be set up to soak up bad debts and make the banks attractive for sale. However, not only is the fate of the money market dependent on the setting up of the AMC, finance experts believe that without it, the stock market as well is not likely to record any sustained recovery.
Bismarck Rewane, an economist and member, Presidential Economic Steering Committee said that “without the Asset Management Company, or the ‘UK bad bank, good bank model, we do not expect a sustained recovery in the stock market. Investors world continue to hold back until the ongoing confusion in the banking system is resolved.”
Mr Lakin Poola, Managing director LP Associates said given the present state of the banking industry, despite the banks’ audit, it will take more than an asset absorbing bad debts company to restore sanity and confidence in the industry, “I am not sure any single event can save this industry,” he added.
Cornerstone of Financial Services
A survey of more than 1 000 global finance leaders undertaken by digital payment network Ripple shows that 72% of respondents believe they need to offer a digital asset solution to remain competitive.
According to Ripple, leaders from the banking, fintech, corporate and asset management sector have made it clear that the “digital asset revolution is happening now”.
“Digital assets are quickly becoming a cornerstone of financial services, underpinned by progressive regulation, growing interest from Tier-1 banks, a steady consumer shift from banks to fintech providers, and booming stablecoin adoption,” Ripple says.
The survey was conducted in early 2026 and the findings released in March.
Stablecoin Boon or Bane?
Ripple has experienced significant success in the stablecoin sector since launching its Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin in 2024.
With a market cap of $1.56 billion, it is considered a major regulated player in the market.
No doubt the platform was pleased to learn through its own survey that financial leaders were most bullish about stablecoins.
Roughly three-quarters of respondents believed they could boost cash-flow efficiency and unlock trapped working capital.
Ripple noted that finance leaders were thinking about stablecoins as more than “just a new way to execute payments”; instead, they viewed them as effective tools for treasury management.
In March 2026, Ripple began testing a new trade finance model built around RLUSD in a bid to increase the speed of cross-border payments.
The pilot initiative, developed alongside supply chain finance company Unloq [https://unloq.com], is running on the XRP Ledger inside a testing framework developed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The Asian city-state is one of the platform’s biggest growth markets.
The idea behind the project is to see whether stablecoin-based settlement can streamline trade finance, too often hampered by reliance on intermediaries and slow reconciliation.
The only potential drawback is that if the initiative takes off, the Ripple to USD price could be negatively affected.
Ripple has always championed its native XRP token as a bridge asset, the “middleman” in the process of a financial institution turning dollars in the US into pounds in the UK, for example.
Ripple converts dollars into XRP and then back into pounds.
If RLUSD can do exactly the same thing, questions will be asked about XRP’s relevance.
That is a bridge Ripple will have to cross if it gets to that point.
Tokenisation Partners
Another interesting finding from Ripple’s survey is that most banks and asset managers are seeking tokenisation partners to help execute their strategies.
Some 89% of respondents said digital asset storage and custody were top priority. “Token servicing/lifecycle management also ranks highly for banks at 82%, while asset managers place greater emphasis on primary distribution at 80%,” Ripple found.
The survey also revealed that just more than half of fintechs and financial institutions want an infrastructure provider that can offer a “one-stop-shop solution”. This rose to 71% among corporate financial leaders.
Ripple attributes this to institutions and firms wanting uncomplicated, cohesive systems.
Infrastructure Rules
In its final analysis, Ripple says companies across the board are looking for partners and solutions that are “secure, compliant, battle-tested and that enable growth and execution”.
“The message is clear: infrastructure decisions made today will shape competitive positioning tomorrow.”
No surprise that this is precisely where Ripple is placing much of its focus.
