Nigeria’s Senate approved on Wednesday a report largely exonerating South African telecoms company MTN Group’s Nigerian unit after the business was accused of illegally repatriating $14 billion to its parent.
But the Senate report also asked Nigeria’s central bank to sanction Stanbic IBTC Bank “for improper documentation in respect of capital repatriation and loan repayments” on behalf of MTN.
Stanbic IBTC did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.
In July the Senate had rejected the report, asking for further work to be undertaken.
Parliament’s upper house agreed in September 2016 to investigate whether Africa’s biggest telecoms firm unlawfully repatriated $13.92 billion from Nigeria – its most lucrative market which generates a third of its revenue – between 2006 and 2016.
A spokesman for MTN said: “We welcome the report. We will study it in more detail. As we’ve placed on record previously, we have always insisted that our actions have been compliant with the law in this regard.”
