Custodian Investment Plc paid ₦419.13 million in total regulatory penalties during the 2025 financial year, with the Central Bank of Nigeria accounting for ₦391 million of that sum, according to the company's audited financial statements filed with the Nigerian Exchange. The total represents a sharp increase from the ₦19.17 million the firm paid in regulatory fines across all bodies in 2024, and the penalties span a range of compliance failures covering anti-money laundering oversight, customer due diligence, intraday liquidity facility usage, internal audit implementation, and regulatory reporting timeliness. The disclosures emerged as part of Custodian's statutory annual reporting obligations to the Nigerian Exchange.
The penalties amounted to less than 1% of the group's 2025 pre-tax profit of ₦77.35 billion.
THE ₦240 MILLION LIQUIDITY PENALTY
The largest single fine imposed by the CBN, at ₦240 million, arose from a breach of intraday liquidity facility rules in connection with a CBN bond trade executed on behalf of Sterling Bank Plc.
Custodian's filings confirmed that the firm subsequently recovered the full ₦240 million from Sterling Bank, reducing the net financial impact of that specific sanction on its own balance sheet. The remaining CBN fines were ₦76 million for non-compliance with Customer Due Diligence regulations and ₦75 million for failing to implement internal audit recommendations relating to a misclassified high-risk customer. The filings also list ₦9.93 million for issues identified during AML and counter-financing of terrorism risk-based supervision and ₦10 million for late returns to the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria.
OTHER REGULATORS AND BROADER CONTEXT
Beyond the CBN, Custodian also attracted penalties from other regulatory bodies during the 2025 financial year. The Securities and Exchange Commission imposed ₦1.5 million for the late filing of an infrastructure fund report. The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) levied ₦1.7 million in respect of a delayed financial statement submission. The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency imposed ₦5 million over unpaid environmental fees. The combined total of non-CBN penalties stood at ₦28.13 million, bringing the aggregate burden across all regulators to ₦419.13 million for the year.
The total of ₦419.13 million compares with ₦19.17 million in 2024, an increase of more than 2,000%.