By Chisaa Okoye (Business Reporter)

For the umpteenth time, the NGX Regulation, the regulatory subsidiary of the NGX Group Plc has suspended trading in the shares of Unity Bank Plc following its failure to submit its annual financial accounts.

The lender, was among the eight listed companies trading in their shares was suspended on Monday, due to default in submitting their respective financial results for 2023, the Head of the Issuer Regulation Department, Godstime Iwenekhai, said in a market bulletin on Monday.

Listed companies are obligated to comply with post-listing requirements by submitting their accounts and other documents within a specified timeframe on the Exchange.

In 2018, the Nigeria Stock Exchange (as it then was) had suspended trading in the shares of the bank owing to its failure to file its 2017 annual financial reports despite that it sought and obtained permission for late filling.

The seven other companies affected by the latest suspension are Guinea Insurance, Lasaco Assurance, Mutual Benefits Assurance, NPF Microfinance Bank, Regency Alliance Insurance, Secure Electronic Technology Plc, and C&I Leasing Plc.

According to the market bulletin, the “suspension was effective immediately.”

Iwenekhai said: “Trading in the shares of the eight companies below have been suspended from the facilities of Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX or The Exchange) effective today, Monday, 8 July 2024, for not filing their Audited Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2023.”

NGX RegCo explained that its action was in line with Rule 3.1 pertaining to the Filing of Accounts and Treatment of Default Filing, (Default Filling Rules), which states:“If an Issuer fails to file the relevant accounts by the expiration of the Cure Period, The Exchange will a) Send to the issuer a Second Filing Deficiency Notification within two business days after the end of the Cure Period “b) Suspend trading in the issuer’s securities, and c) Notify the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Market within 24 hours of the suspension.”

The NGX RegCo stated that the trading suspension on the shares of the affected companies would be removed upon their adherence to the regulations.

Insurance companies had witnessed delays in submitting their 2023 annual report due to the adoption of IFRS 17 standards.

IFRS 17 requires a company to recognise profits as it delivers insurance services (rather than when it receives premiums) and to provide information about insurance contract profits the company expects to recognise in the future.