Barbican Capital Sues First Bank Over Shareholding Error.
Barbican Capital Limited has initiated a lawsuit against FBN Holdings, Nigeria’s oldest financial institution, due to discrepancies in reported shareholding. Barbican, the largest single shareholder in FBN Holdings, alleges that the bank improperly reduced its reported shareholding from approximately 13.61% to 8.67% in its audited accounts, which has caused significant confusion and concern.
In its complaint, Barbican Capital points out that the bank’s December 2023 audited accounts inaccurately reported its shareholding at 3.1 billion shares, down from 4.8 billion shares as previously stated in the unaudited accounts. This reduction was accompanied by a note suggesting the new figure was based on verification by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Barbican Capital contends that the Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS), a reliable source for confirming share ownership, verifies its shareholding as 5.39 billion shares (15.01%), not the reduced figure reported by FBN Holdings. The bank’s subsequent decision to freeze dividend payments to Barbican further intensified the dispute, prompting the lawsuit.
The lawsuit, filed at the Federal High Court in Lagos, seeks several declarations, including:
- Affirmation of Shareholding: Confirmation that Barbican Capital’s shareholding stands at 5,386,397,202 shares as per CSCS records.
- Protection of Rights: Protection against any alteration or misstatement of Barbican’s shareholding.
- Injunction: A court order restraining FBN Holdings from altering Barbican’s shareholding records.
Barbican Capital argues that its share ownership and rights have been validated through dividend payments and CSCS records, making the bank’s actions both perplexing and unjust. The case highlights issues of shareholder rights and financial reporting accuracy within Nigeria’s banking sector.
