The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said it is working on a new regulation aimed at improving the level of compliance and corporate governance practice by fintechs in the country. 

The Deputy Governor of Financial Systems Stability at CBN, Mr. Philip Ikeazor, disclosed this during the FITC Fintech (TechNnovation) Conference held in Lagos on Thursday.

He said the new regulation is crucial to mitigate the risks of the digital era. 

Presenting a keynote address, titled: “Building Trust in the Digital Age: Balancing Performance with Compliance” said the digital banking platforms have made financial services more accessible to millions of Nigerians, fostering greater financial inclusion and convenience.  

However, on the flip side, he said digitalization also brings challenges that can erode trust if not properly managed.

According to him, issues like cybersecurity threats, data breaches, and digital fraud are persistent concerns that can erode consumer confidence in the system. 

Mitigating the risks 

To manage the risks, Ikeazor said the CBN has been at the forefront of this revolution, implementing policies that foster innovation while ensuring the stability and integrity of the financial system. 

“In addition to existing measures, the central bank is working on a new regulation to further enhance performance and compliance. This will focus on two key areas: corporate governance and licensing requirements.  

“Every organization should conduct its business processes in compliance with the law and the various regulations. Financial institutions need to take the compliance function as extremely important.  

“Corporate Governance is also very critical. Organizations need to have the right structure and be effective transparent and accountable in the administration of their affairs. And especially now when you look at the body language of the regulator, this is the era of compliance and you’re going to be seeing very effective and dissuasive sanctions,” he said. 

The fintech revolution 

In her opening address, the Chief Convener and the Chief Executive Officer of FITC, Mrs. Chizor Malize, said the emergence of fintech has revolutionized financial services, shifting consumer behaviour towards digital consumption and away from traditional brick-and-mortar establishments globally.  

According to her, the rise of companies like PayPal and Square, alongside innovations such as blockchain technology and mobile payment systems such as Apple Pay and Google Wallet, has demonstrated the immense of potential fintech to disrupt traditional banking models and enhance consumer convenience.  

While noting that Africa stands at the forefront of this fintech revolution with companies like Interswitch, Flutterwave, Moniepoint, and others leading the charge, she said Nigerian banks such as Providus Bank, GTBank, and Stanbic IBTC and others are also embracing fintech innovations to meet evolving consumer demands. 

“These initiatives showcase Africa’s potential to drive financial inclusion and economic growth through digital innovation. With widespread mobile technology adoption and a growing demand for financial services, these platforms have transformed digital payments, financial inclusion, and banking services, contributing significantly to Africa’s fintech revolution. 

“The conference theme, “Building Trust in the Digital Age: Balancing Performance with Compliance,” captures the duality we face head-on. Trust is the cornerstone of any financial system, and in an age of rapid technological advancement, maintaining that trust is more crucial than ever.  

“As we strive for peak performance and efficiency, we must uphold the highest standards of compliance and integrity. Strong regulation and compliance are essential for ensuring financial system stability, which is the focus of this conference. Education and knowledge intervention are vital to innovation, transformation and growth,” she said.  

The FITC is a not-for-profit professional organization, which has the CBN, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), and all licensed banks in Nigeria as members. 

[Nairametrics]

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump met for a showdown over policy and their records, but not everything claimed by the candidates onstage was factual.

Inflation rates, border crossings, Jan. 6, abortion, the stock market and the cost to America of the Paris Climate Accord were among the issues the two sparred over that need a closer look.

ABC News’ politics team analyzed their comments to break down fact from fiction.

Did Biden inherit 9% inflation?

TRUMP CLAIM: "He also said he inherited 9% inflation -- no. He inherited almost no inflation, and it stayed ... stayed that way for 14 months, and it blew up under his leadership …"

FACT CHECK: This is mostly true. In January 2021, when Biden was inaugurated, year-over-year inflation was about 1.4%. Under Biden, year-over-year inflation peaked at 9.1 % in June 2022. But it is now down to 3.3 %. Under Trump, inflation rose 7.76 % from January 2017 to January 2021, and year-over-year inflation peaked at 2.9 % in July 2018.

--Zunaira Zaki

TRUMP CLAIM: "We got…a lot of credit for the military, and no wars and so many other things. Everything was rocking good."

FACT CHECK: Needs context. While it's true that Trump did not formally declare war against a foreign power while in the White House, he significantly scaled up military action in Syria and Iraq in the fight against ISIS and also authorized the air strike that killed Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, putting the country on the brink of a direct conflict with Iran. Pentagon records also show that at least 65 American troops were killed in action during Trump's term.

--Shannon Kingston

Crime and the Border

TRUMP CLAIM: "We have a border that's the most dangerous place anywhere in the world, considered the most dangerous place anywhere in the world, and he opened it up, and these killers are coming into our country, and they are raping and killing women."

FACT-CHECK: False. The reality is that no evidence points to a significant surge in crime caused by recent arrivals. The former president's claims ignore the fact that, overall, crime is down across the country. According to the latest FBI statistics released quarterly, violent crimes were down 6% in quarter 4 of 2023 (through Dec 2023) compared to the same time frame in 2022. There was a 13% decline in murders and a 4% drop in property crimes across the country. That declining trend followed unprecedented spikes in 2019 and 2020, Trump's last two years in office.

--Armando Tonatiuh Torres-García

Hunter Biden's laptop

TRUMP CLAIM: "It's the same thing -- 51 intelligence agents said that the laptop was Russian disinformation. It wasn't that -- it came from his son, Hunter. It wasn't Russia."

FACT CHECK: True, but needs unpacking At the final presidential debate of the 2020 cycle, Joe Biden suggested the contents of his son's laptop's hard drive -- which by then had been dubbed the "laptop from hell" in the New York Post and other conservative outlets -- were "garbage" and a "Russian plant."

Biden's claim that the laptop hard drive was a "Russian plant" was an apparent reference to a letter signed by 51 retired intelligence officials who wrote that the timing of its emergence "has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation."

Several of those signees have since said that Biden mischaracterized the language in their letter.

Furthermore, earlier this month, prosecutors at Hunter Biden's criminal trial in Delaware introduced the laptop into evidence and, in one of the more theatrical moments of the trial, showed jurors the physical MacBook Pro 13 that Hunter Biden purportedly abandoned at a Wilmington computer repair shop in April 2019.

"Ultimately, in examining that laptop, were investigators able to confirm that it was Hunter Biden's laptop?" prosecutor Derek Hines asked an FBI agent who testified as an expert witness in Hunter Biden's recent gun case.

"Yes," the FBI agent said.

--Lucien Bruggeman

TRUMP'S CLAIM: "The problem they have is they are radical because they will take the life of a child in the eighth month, the ninth month and even after birth."

FACT CHECK: This is not true. Abortions that occur later in pregnancy are around 1% of abortions, according to KFF. Democrats do not call for abortions late into pregnancies, and infanticide is illegal in the U.S. Democrats often respond that abortions that do happen in the third trimester are the result of tragic circumstances in a pregnancy.

--Cheyenne Haslett

Who had a better stock market?

TRUMP CLAIM: "[Biden] created mandates. That was a disaster for our country but other than that we had, we had given back a country where the stock market actually was higher than pre-COVID, and nobody thought that was even possible.

FACT CHECK: Unclear. The Dow hit 30,000 for the first time on November 24, 2020. But that was after the last presidential election, so it's hard to say whether it was because of Trump's presidency or because of Biden's win.

--Zunaira Zaki

Are more terrorists now crossing the border into America?

TRUMP CLAIM: "We have the largest number of terrorists coming into our country right now."

FACT CHECK: Largely exaggerated. Trump appears to be referring to the increasing number of migrants on the federal terror "watchlist" who are encountered at the border. The number of people encountered by border authorities on the watchlist jumped from three in Trump's last full year to nearly 100 in the first full fiscal year under Biden. However, the Terrorist Screening Dataset, maintained by the FBI, includes names of people who have suspected ties to individuals who may be affiliated with a foreign terror organization. It is not a comprehensive list of actual terrorists.

--Quinn Owen

Paris Climate Accord

TRUMP CLAIM: "The Paris Accord was going to cost us a trillion dollars and China nothing and Russia nothing, and India nothing. It was a rip-off of the United States, and I ended it because I didn't want to waste that money because they treated us horribly."

FACT CHECK: Not entirely true. Biden rejoined the Paris Climate Accord on his first day in office, according to a State Department memo. One-hundred and ninety-six countries signed on to the Paris Accord, agreeing to work together to limit the impacts of climate change and global warming. As part of that, the more developed, wealthier nations committed to contributing $100 billion to support developing countries more vulnerable to climate change's impacts.

Biden pledged to work with Congress to authorize $11 billion to contribute to the Paris Agreement's $100 billion in funds to support developing countries who need help adapting to climate change's impacts. As of 2023, the U.S. was on track to meet that goal with $9.5 billion committed to financing global climate initiatives, according to the State Department.

--Stephanie Ebbs

National Guardsmen on Jan. 6

TRUMP CLAIM: "I offered her [House Speaker Nancy Pelosi] 10,000 soldiers who are National Guard. And she turned them down, and the mayor of - in writing, by the way, the mayor, in writing, turned it down. The mayor of D.C. They turned it down. I offered 10,000 because I could see I had virtually nothing to do. They asked me to go make a speech."

FACT-CHECK: False. The final report by the bipartisan Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol determined there was "no evidence" to support the claim that Trump gave an order "to have 10,000 troops ready for January 6th."

The report quoted President Trump's Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller, who directly refuted this claim under oath, saying, "There was no direct order from the President" to put 10,000 troops to be on the ready for January 6th.

Instead, the report noted that when Trump referenced that number of troops, it was not to protect the Capitol but that he had "floated the idea of having 10,000 National Guardsmen deployed to protect him and his supporters from any supposed threats by left-wing counter-protesters."

--Luis Martinez

Iran, Israel, and Oct. 7

TRUMP CLAIM: "He [Putin] never would have invaded Ukraine, never, just like Israel would have never been invaded in a million years by Hamas. You know why? Because Iran was broke with me. I wouldn't let anybody do business with them. They ran out of money. They were broke. They had no money for Hamas. They had no money for anything, no money for terror. That's why you had no terror at all during my administration.”

FACT CHECK: Not true. Iran has been Hamas' principal backer for decades, including through the Trump presidency. Although Trump did withdraw from an Obama-era nuclear deal and levy sanctions against Tehran that dealt a sharp blow to its economy, records retrieved from inside Gaza by the Israeli Defense Forces and verified by independent news outlets indicate Iran still funneled tens of millions of dollars to Hamas during his administration. Two of Trump's top advisers for Middle Eastern affairs also claimed that Iran was supplying Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups with $100 million each year in an op-ed published in 2019.--Shannon Kingston

Trump's Manhattan hush-money case

TRUMP CLAIM: "That was a case that was started, and … they moved a high-ranking official, a DOJ, into the Manhattan DA's office to start that case. … [Biden] basically went after his political opponent because he thought it was going to damage me."

FACT CHECK: There are a few things to unpack here – but there is no evidence to support either statement.

First, there is no evidence that Joe Biden, as president of the United States, directed or choreographed a state prosecution -- which was brought by the Manhattan District Attorney, Alvin Bragg. Biden has no authority to do so, and there is no evidence to support Trump's assertion.

Second, with regard to the "high-ranking" DOJ official who Trump claims was moved into the District Attorney's office to "start the case," Trump appears to be referring to Matthew Colangelo, who left the Justice Department in December of 2022, years after the investigation began. There is no evidence that Biden or the Justice Department coordinated Colangelo's move. The case was brought by Bragg, an elected Democrat in New York.

Trump was found guilty by a jury of his peers.

--Lucien Bruggeman

Were tax cuts under Trump the largest in history?

TRUMP CLAIM: "I gave you the largest tax cut in history. I also gave you the largest regulation cut in history, that's why we had all the jobs."

FACT-CHECK: False. According to Erica York at the Tax Foundation, the Trump-era tax cut (TCJA) was a large tax cut but not the largest in history. If you look at percent of revenue as share of GDP in the first two years, several tax cuts going back to 1940 were larger. The most recent that was larger was the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012.Separately, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates that the tax cuts under President Ronald Reagan were the largest tax cuts in recent history as a percent of GDP.

At the time the law went into effect, the Tax Foundation estimated that it would boost long-term employment by more than 300,000 jobs. But Moody’s Chief Economist Mark Zandi says, "the tax cuts did support job growth, but at the cost of adding approximately $2 trillion to the nation’s debt." He added, “The regulatory changes had no measurable impact on job growth.”

--Zunaira Zaki

[abcNews]

Donald Trump accused Joe Biden on Thursday of doing a “poor job” on the US economy and of presiding over a disastrous rise in inflation — reflecting how rising prices and the cost of living have become key issues ahead of November’s presidential election.

“He has not done a good job. He’s done a poor job,” Trump said during CNN’s head-to-head debate with Biden in Atlanta, Georgia. “And inflation is killing our country. It is absolutely killing us.

“I gave him a country with essentially no inflation. It was perfect. It was so good, all he had to do is leave it alone.” he added. “He destroyed it”

In response to Trump’s attacks on his record, Biden said Trump had “absolutely decimated” the US economy when he was president.

“There was no inflation when I became president. You know why? The economy was flat on its back,” he said, adding that his administration had helped create “millions” of new jobs, including in minority communities.

Americans have named inflation or the cost of living as “the most important financial problem facing their family,” in each of the last three years, according to a recent poll from the Washington-based firm Gallup.

Perhaps more worryingly for Biden, 46 percent of adults in the United States said they have “a great deal” or “a fair amount” of confidence in Trump to do or recommend the right thing for the economy, while just 38 percent said the same thing about the current president, according to another Gallup poll.

– Surge in inflation –

While it is true that US consumer inflation jumped sharply after Biden took office, hitting a multi-decade high in 2022, the rise was largely fueled by a post-pandemic supply crunch and by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In response, the US Federal Reserve hiked its key lending rate from almost zero to a two-decade high of between 5.25 and 5.50 percent — where it has remained for the past year.

Higher interest rates cool down the economy by raising borrowing costs for consumers and businesses, indirectly impacting everything from mortgage rates to auto loans.

Inflation has eased sharply since the Fed started hiking rates, but remains stuck stubbornly above its long-term target of two percent — keeping the US central bank on pause as it waits for more positive data.

Because inflation has remained high for a number of years, consumer prices have now risen by around 20 percent since January 2021, when Biden took office, according to the Labor Department’s consumer price index (CPI) inflation calculator.

In contrast, consumer prices rose by less than six percent during the same timeframe under Trump.

Although Congress has given the Fed the mandate to tackle inflation on its own, it is still a difficult topic for Biden, who has looked to talk up his economic record ahead of November’s election.

– ‘Inflationary’ policies –

The Fed expects inflation will continue to ease this year and next, before hitting its long-term target of two percent in 2026.

But the path to two percent will likely depend on who becomes president in November — and which parties will control the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Trump has suggested that, if he wins the election, he will look to extend a series of tax cuts made under his leadership, severely restrict immigration, deport some foreign-born illegal immigrants and slap tariffs on all US imports.

These policies would all “likely be inflationary,” by putting up prices, placing upward pressure on wages and boosting adding to the nation’s debt, JP Morgan economists wrote in a recent note to clients.

As things stand, Republican control of the House, Senate and the White House is not the most likely scenario come November, Oxford Economics lead US economist Bernard Yaros wrote in a recent note to clients.

“If Biden is reelected but presides over a divided government, the upside risk potential to the economy from fiscal policy is limited,” he said.

“If Trump returns to the White House with a divided government, he will have a tougher time enacting his fiscal agenda,” he added.

America got its first look at President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump in a head-to-head matchup in a closely divided election in a contest between two of the most unpopular presidents in history.

Topics covered in the roughly 90-minute debate hit on all the main issues for most voters: the economy, immigration, the future of American democracy and several other issues like an increase in drug overdoses and the cost of childcare. It was also deeply personal for both men, who frequently attacked each other’s character and competency to be president.

Voters won't get another chance to see them together again until September when the next debate is scheduled.

Highlights from the first debate:

TRUMP AND BIDEN SPAR OVER HANDLING OF ECONOMY

The state of the economy and inflation are the leading issue for most voters preparing to cast a ballot in November and is often the biggest factor for independents to decide who to vote for.

Both men painted a vastly different picture of each other’s stewardship of the economy, with Biden saying he inherited an economy “on its back” and accusing Trump of rewarding the wealthy with his signature tax cuts. Trump charged Biden with causing inflation that at one point reached 9% before cooling off considerably over the last year and said he had oversaw the creation of the “greatest economy in the world.”

“We had the greatest economy in the history of our country. And we have never done so well. Every everybody was amazed by it. Other countries were copying us,” Trump said. “The only jobs he created are for illegal immigrants and bounceback jobs that bounced back from the COVID. He has not done a good job. He's done a poor job and inflation is killing our country. It is absolutely killing us.”

That was a vastly different interpretation than the one Biden gave, which was that he led America back from an economy left in shambles due to Trump’s mismanagement of the pandemic.

“We had an economy that was in freefall — the pandemic was so badly handled. Many people were dying. All he said was ‘it's not that serious, just inject a little bleach into your arm, you’ll be alright,” Biden said. “The economy collapsed, there were no jobs. Unemployment rate rose to 15%. It was terrible, and so what we had to do was try to put things back together again.”

President Joe Biden, right, and Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump stand during a presidential debate hosted by CNN, Thursday, June 27, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

IMMIGRATION AND THE SOUTHERN BORDER

Trump focused on Biden’s handling of immigration and the southern border throughout the debate, pivoting from questions about many different unrelated issues to the perceived failings of the Biden administration at the U.S.-Mexico border. He also tried to tie illegal border crossings to crime, a line of attack that he and other Republicans frequently make to argue against Biden’s immigration policies.

“He decided to open up our border, open up our country to people that are from prisons, people that are from mental institutions, insane asylum, terrorists,” Trump said without offering evidence.

Biden appeared to become frustrated with Trump’s frequent pivots and misleading statements about immigration, calling him a liar and blaming him for tanking a bipartisan Senate deal meant to address some of the issues at the border.

“Everything he says is a lie. Every single one,” Biden said.

ADDRESSING AGE CONCERNS

The 81-year-old Biden and 78-year-old Trump were both asked by moderators what they would say to voters who are concerned about their advanced age and ability to lead the country heading into November. Whoever wins the election will set the mark for the oldest president in American history.

Age is of particular concern for Biden’s campaign, as voters have regularly told pollsters they have concerns about his ability to lead the country through another four years. Trump has had his own troubles mixing up names and meandering during speeches but does not face the same skepticism from the public.

Biden deflected the question, referencing that he was one of the youngest people to be elected to the Senate before pivoting to talking about his achievements during his first term in office. Trump noted that he had passed a cognitive test and challenged Biden to take one.

The conversation then devolved into a debate over who is the better golfer and discussing their physical attributes.

Biden’s campaign had sought to put some of those concerns to rest with a strong debate performance with several months to go before Election Day, but Biden’s performance has done the opposite for even some of his strongest supporters.

This combination of photos shows Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, left, and President Joe Biden during a presidential debate hosted by CNN, Thursday, June 27, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

BIDEN TARGETS TRUMP’S PERSONAL, LEGAL TROUBLES

Biden was sharply critical of Trump at numerous points throughout the debate, listing off his legal troubles and describing what he sees as flaws in his character that make him unfit to be the next president.

"How many billions of dollars do you owe on civil penalties for for molesting a woman in public, for doing a whole range of things — of having sex with a porn star on the night, while your wife is pregnant — What are you talking about?" he said after noting that Trump is now a convicted felon.

Trump baselessly accused Biden of being a criminal and also claimed the president is ordering the several prosecutions of him because he is a political opponent. Trump has frequently leaned on claims of a “weaponized” justice system being targeted against him for Biden’s benefit since making history as the first former president to be indicted on criminal charges.

“You have the morals of an alley cat,” Biden said.

“I didn’t have sex with a porn star,” Trump responded.

BIDEN GIVES UNEVEN PERFORMANCE

While the age concerns were directly addressed by the moderators, it was also being closely watched by millions of Americans who are hesitant to support Biden over the issue. His voice was scratchy during the debate and there were several moments where he appeared to lose his train of thought or struggle to clearly lay out a case on several of the issues.

He particularly struggled in the beginning of the debate when arguing about the economy and inflation with Trump.

Biden drifted from an answer on tax policy to health policy, at one point using the word “COVID,” and then saying, “excuse me, with, dealing with,” before trailing off again.

“Look, we finally beat Medicare,” Biden said while giving an answer on tax and health policies.

“That’s right, he did beat Medicaid, he beat it to death. And he’s destroying Medicare," Trump said.

Trump has frequently played up attacks on Biden’s mental fitness and age and continued to do so on stage.

[kfoxtv]