An Overview of the Implications of the Global Financial Crisis on the Nigerian Banking sector

Abstract

The global financial architecture is facing an unprecedented cataclysm since the great depression with a myriad of economic woes like bank losses, stock market crashes, declining real output and slowed economic growth, weakened financial systems typified by takeovers and bankruptcies, loss of jobs, loss of confidence in financial markets etc. The Nigerian banking sector is not completely immune to the crises, the paper therefore analyses the antecedents of the global financial crises and its implication on the Nigerian banking sector delving into the responses by government and regulatory authorities to curb the effects of the crises. For Nigeria banks to withstand the crisis, regulatory authorities should intensify surveillance and watch out for early warning signals of possible systemic distress and continuous efforts should be made to upgrade the accounting, reporting and disclosure format along the best practice models. Multilateral cooperation should also be upheld between Central Bank of Nigeria and other relevant bodies as well as imbibing sound corporate governance in banking operations by Nigerian banks.