Business
Atuche Granted N14.3bn Loans Without Board Approval –Witness
Mrs Phillipa Ulasi, former Chief Credit Officer of Bank PHB, has accused the bank former Managing Director, Francis Atuche, of granting N14.3 billion loans to some companies without board approval.
Ulasi stated this last Thursday while testifying at the resumed trial of Atuche over alleged corrupt practice at an Ikeja High Court presided over by Justice Lateefat Okunnu.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had arraigned Atuche, and his wife, Elizabeth, over alleged stealing of N25.7 billion belonging to the bank (now Keystone Bank).
Also charged by the commission was a former Chief Financial Officer of the bank, Ugo Anyanwu.
They were alleged to have committed the offence between Nov. 2007 and April 2008, when Atuche was the bank Chief Executive Officer.
Ulasi who was led in evidence by EFCC prosecutor, Mr Kemi Pinheiro, told the court that the loans were granted without the permission of the board credit committee of the bank.
EFCC had claimed that Atuche granted loans to companies where he and his wife had vested interest.
The commission claimed that a loan of N3.5 billion was granted to Future View Securities, N3.9 billion was granted to Extra Oil Ltd. and Trajeck Ltd. got N3.5 billion.
Besides, it said that Resolution Trust and Investment Limited got N3.3 billion while Petosan Oil and Gas Limited was granted a N4 billion loan.
The witness said she was not aware of any approval for the said loans as the secretary to the bank board credit committee during the period.
Ulasi said: “They were not presented at the board’s credit committee and the committee members did not disbursed them.
“It was my responsibility to make credit presentations to the board when requested by customers for recommendation and approval.
“I did not receive any memo from the board concerning the said loans”.
Our correspondent reports that the court had earlier subpoenaed a representative of the managing director of the defunct Oceanic Bank, Mr Olufemi komolafe, for appearance.
Komolafe, at the trial presented an Oceanic Bank cheque no. 00095 dated Jan. 2, 2008 in the sum of N2, 868, 750, 000 issued by Falcons Securities Limited in favour of Bank PHB Public Offer to the court.
The court, however, admitted the cheque as exhibit P169.
The case was adjourned till March 25 for the continuation of the trial.
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.