Access Bank Faces N557 Million Fine from CBN for FX Violations

Access Holdings Plc (NGX: ACCESSCORP) has reported that its banking subsidiary, Access Bank, incurred N557 million in penalties from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) during the first half of 2026 due to regulatory breaches primarily involving foreign-exchange transactions. The fines, which were disclosed in the group's unaudited financial statements for the six months ending June 2026, represent a 29 percent increase from the N432 million in penalties reported for the same period in 2025.

Most penalties arose from two CBN examinations covering foreign-exchange activities from April 2023 to March 2025, totaling N369 million. The largest single penalty of N167.96 million was for the late remittance of funds under a CBN intervention facility for Max Air.

The CBN found that Access Bank submitted net open position returns containing "fictitious forward transactions," which could misrepresent the bank's currency exposure. The breaches were cited under the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020.