After 20 Years, NDIC to Pay Dividends to Depositors of Defunct Peak Merchant Bank

• Depositors of Peak Merchant Bank will now receive their dividends after 20 years the bank became defunct
• The first liquidation dividend will be paid upon verification of the depositors
• NDIC enjoined concerned persons to visit the bank’s old premises or the corporation’s office nearest to them with proof

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) said arrangements have been made to pay the first liquidation dividend to Peak Merchant Bank depositors and former employees (deposits).

According to a statement made yesterday and signed by Bashir Nuhu, the NDIC's director of communication and public affairs, the verification effort will allow depositors of the closed bank to cross-check and determine the details of their accounts as well as any outstanding amounts.

He urged eligible stakeholders of the closed bank to visit any NDIC offices or the NDIC website at www.ndic.gov.ng to verify their claims beginning on September 18 and continuing through October 16, 2023.

He also said that the duly completed verification forms might be emailed to claimscomplaints@ndic.gov.ng, the corporation's email address.

Depositors need to be verified

NDIC earlier announced that the payments for insured funds owed to Peak Merchant Bank depositors have started to be verified.

In a statement, Mr. Bashir Nuhu, director of communication and public affairs at the NDIC, said the action was consistent with the corporation's duty to guarantee deposits and pay depositors back in the case of bank failure.

He stated that the depositors of the closed bank would be able to cross-check and determine their account information as well as balances with the bank at closure thanks to the verification exercise.

The procedure is a step before such depositors are paid insured monies, according to Nuhu's explanation.

He said:

“Depositors are therefore enjoined to visit the bank’s old premises or the corporation’s office nearest to them with proof of account ownership and verifiable means of identification for the exercise.”

According to the NDIC, if a bank fails, the insured sum is the initial and required payment that depositors receive, up to the stated level.

Depositors are later given sums in excess of the insured sums in liquidation dividends from the proceeds of the assets of the liquidated bank as realised by NDIC as liquidator.

Peak Merchant Bank Limited's operating licence was revoked by the central bank in March 2003 as a result of the chairman's alleged excessive influence, who was also a significant stakeholder in the bank.

Reports stated that the organisation had a history of weak profitability, severe insider misconduct, poor asset quality, and persistent illiquidity.

Litigation brought by shareholders had, however, put off the liquidation process.

NDIC Names 182 Liquidated Banks, Offers to Pay Customers Insured Sum

Legit.ng had reported that the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation has begun paying all depositors of banks affected by the recent license revocation by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The affected banks include 178 Microfinance Banks and four Primary Mortgage Banks, 62 of which had already stopped operations, and 74 were declared insolvent. At the same time, 12 were temporarily distressed, and the remaining six were voluntarily liquidated.

The Managing Director of NDIC, Bello Hassan, gave the assurance recently while speaking at a two-day capacity-building workshop organized in partnership with the Bureau of Public Procurement held at Four Points By Sheraton in Ikot Ekpene.

Source: Legit.ng