CBN Fines Access Bank ₦557m for FX Breaches, ‘Fictitious’ Forward Deals

Access Holdings’ banking unit paid ₦557 million in 12 Central Bank of Nigeria penalties in the first half of 2026, according to the group’s unaudited financial statements. The fines were 29% higher than the ₦432 million disclosed for the same period in 2025, but amounted to about 0.2% of the group’s ₦266.72 billion profit after tax. Ten penalties, totalling ₦369 million, followed two CBN foreign-exchange examinations covering April 2023 to March 2025. The largest single fine was ₦167.96 million for late remittance of recovered funds from a CBN intervention facility granted to Max Air. The CBN also fined the bank for recording forward FX transactions without eligible underlying deals and including them in foreign-currency trading and net open position returns. The filings described the reported forwards as “fictitious”. Those breaches and a late FX general-ledger submission accounted for ₦153 million in penalties. The fines were imposed between February and June 2026 for conduct dating back to April 2023. The timing suggests the regulator may still be processing earlier examinations, so further penalties relating to past periods are possible.

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