What is the impact of CBN charges on banks' profits?

For the banks, the fear of the CBN is the beginning of wisdom, but are all regulatory policies wise?

Banking regulation

There’s no denying that regulation remains crucial to the smooth running of any economy and a country’s general economic well-being.

However, when weighed on a scale, how good or bad do regulatory decisions have on Nigerian banks?

Key takeaways:

Charges associated with regulatory decisions like the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) debits, Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) levy and Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) premium have a negative impact on banks’ performance.
The CBN uses the CRR debits to mop up liquidity and also force the banks to give out loans to the economy. However, the effect of the CRR debits which are meant to mop up excess liquidity is muted by the CBN’s increased borrowings to the Federal Government via Ways and Means.
Furthermore, the AMCON levy imposed on 0.5% of banks’ total assets has become unnecessary and puts pressure on the operating expenses of banks, ranging between 10-18% of total operating expenses.

You may have heard of some regulatory decisions like the monthly Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) debits, Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) levy, and Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) premium. Each of these decisions is a rule (or charge) for banks operating in Nigeria.

As the primary regulator, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) justifies these charges as necessary to ensure financial stability. But we can no longer ignore their impact due to their increasing pressures on banks’ bottom line.

So in this data story, I will use 11 charts to examine the impact of these regulations and discuss how justifiable they are.