Minority shareholders, have accused Aso Savings & Loans Plc of a considerable breach of corporate governance rules and asset stripping in the management of Union Homes Savings & Loans Plc, which it acquired in 2013.
The shareholders, under the auspices of the Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN) have consequently lodged a petition with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) and Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) pleading for intervention to prevent the imminent loss of their investments.
The petition, signed by Chuks Nwachuku of Indemnity Partners, lawyers representing ISAN, noted that, Union Bank of Nigeria was compelled to divest from Union Homes Savings and Loan in line with the regulation of the scope of Banking Activities and Ancillary Matters issued on November 2010 by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which repealed the Universal Banking Guidelines and required banks to divest from their non-banking subsidiaries.
Entitled ‘Re: Disturbing Total Absence of Corporate Governance in Union Homes Savings & Loans Plc and Consequential Rape of the Company’, the petition explained that Aso Savings & Loans was selected as preferred bidder for the divestment and the parties entered into a Transaction Implementation Agreement together with Union Bank and UH Investment Nigeria Limited (UHNL), a special purpose vehicle set up by ASO to facilitate the transaction.
