President Goodluck signs AMCON Bill

President Goodluck Jonathan today, Monday, July 19, 2010 at exactly 3.28 pm
signed the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, (AMCON) Bill into law.
The Act provides the legal backing for the establishment of the long-awaited
corporation.
While signing the bill, President Jonathan stated that “the establishment of
AMCON is a reflection of the Government’s commitment to safeguard the
interests of depositors, creditors, and other stakeholders in the Nigerian financial
system and in doing so rejuvenate the domestic economy.”
According to the President, AMCON will help to stimulate the recovery of the
financial system and ultimately the wider economy through among others,
providing liquidity to the banks by buying their non-performing loans,
recapitalizing the intervened banks, increasing access to refinancing opportunities
for borrowers, increasing confidence in banks’ balance sheets and therefore
Nigeria’s credit and risk ratings, encourage a return of confidence to the capital
market and preventing continued job losses in the banking industry.
He commended the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Justice and the Central Bank
of Nigeria for the collaboration that was put into the preparation and finalization of
the landmark Bill and he expressed the hope that the signing into law of the Bill
will be an important turning point for the return to strong economic growth and
financial system stability. He also commended the National Assembly for ensuring
the smooth passage of the Bill.
Meanwhile, the CBN and the Federal Ministry of Finance are putting finishing
touches to the setting up of appropriate structures for the AMCON as required
under the Act. It would be recalled that the CBN Governor at the last Monetary
Policy Committee, (MPC) media briefing on July 5, 2010 indicated that he was
hopeful that AMCON would come on stream by the end of September 2010. With
the signing of the Bill, all is now set for the immediate take off of the corporation
in the weeks ahead.