MTN Group and its bankers have provided more documents that may reduce the government’s USD 8.1 billion claim against MTN Nigeria, which could be resolved soon, Central Bank of Nigeria governor Godwin Emefiele said, according to Bloomberg.
The central bank said in late August that MTN alongside Standard Chartered, Citigroup, Stanbic IBTC and Diamond Bank, illegally repatriated money from Nigeria and that MTN should return USD 8.1 billion. The regulator also fined the four banks a combined USD 16 million.
Emefiele said he expected that the new information would help cut the size of the claim and was optimistic that the matter would be resolved amicably. He said his staff are studying the documents and he hoped to make a decision on the matter in a "couple of weeks".
MTN sought an injunction in early September to buy itself time and fight the claim, which wiped as much as 36 percent off its market value within two weeks. The central bank has asked the federal high court in Lagos to deny MTN’s request and said the company should pay an annualised 15 percent interest on the dividends until the matter is ruled upon, and then 10 percent until the whole sum is paid, according to legal documents filed by the regulator.
Emefiele said the clash with MTN had taken a "global dimension" that it did not need and that he was keen to demonstrate to international investors how open the Nigerian market is, calling the MTN matter "isolated" and no reason "for anyone to lose any sleep".
