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E-Financial

Cyber Thieves Target Banks, Use Log-In Data to Crack Open Accounts

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The financial services sector suffered 3.5 billion credential stuffing attacks over the past 18 months, as cybercrooks used previously breached log-in data to crack open user accounts.

 

The numbers come from Akamai’s 2019 State of the Internet / Security Financial Services Attack Economy Report, which found that 50 per cent of all attacks from phishing domains were targeted at the financial sector.

 

The report indicates that between December 2018 and May 2019, nearly 200,000 phishing domains were discovered, of which 66 per cent targeted consumers directly.

 

When taking the phishing domains targeting consumers only into consideration, 50 per cent of those targeted companies in the financial services industry.

 

Martin McKeay, security researcher at Akamai said, “We’ve seen a steady rise in credential stuffing attacks over the past year, fed in part by a growth in phishing attacks against consumers.

 

“Criminals supplement existing stolen credential data through phishing, and then one way they make money is by hijacking accounts or reselling the lists they create. We’re seeing a whole economy developing to target financial services organizations and their consumers.”

 

Akamai’s findings additionally revealed that 94 per cent of observed attacks against the financial services sector came from one of four well-documented methods: SQL Injection (SQLi), Local File Inclusion (LFI), Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), and OGNL Java Injection (which accounted for more than 8 million attempts during this reporting period).

 

OGNL Java Injection, made famous due to the Apache Struts vulnerability, continues to be used by attackers’ years after patches have been issued.

 

Criminals have also started launching DDoS attacks as a distraction to conduct credential stuffing attacks or to exploit a web-based vulnerability.

 

Over the course of 18 months, Akamai uncovered more than 800 DDoS attacks against the financial services industry alone. “Attackers are targeting financial services organisations at their weak points: the consumer, web applications and availability, because that’s what works,” said McKeay.

 

“Businesses are becoming better at detecting and defending against these attacks, but point defenses are bound to fail,” he added.

 


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E-Financial

GTCO to Become First Nigerian Bank to List on London Stock Exchange

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By 8 am on July 9, GTCO Holdings is set to commence trading on the London Stock Exchange.

GTCO to Become First Nigerian Bank to List on London Stock Exchange

As the group is set to list all its shares on the London Stock Exchange, becoming the first Nigerian banking entity to do so.

This is as the group launches a public offer of new ordinary shares to raise approximately $100 million on the London Stock Exchange.

The equity offering, which is an accelerated bookbuild and managed by Citigroup, began on July 2 and is to last until July 31.

On July 31, the group announced that it would cancel the listing of its Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) on the UK Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Official List.

It will also cancel their admission to trading on the London Stock Exchange (LSE)’s main market.

In place of the GDRs, the group will list all its ordinary shares directly.

aims to admit all its shares to the equity shares category for international commercial companies under a secondary listing on the FCA’s Official List.

The shares will also begin trading on the LSE’s main market for listed securities.

According to a regulatory filing on the London Stock Exchange, the net proceeds from the offering will be used to recapitalize GTBank Nigeria.

Based on the prevailing exchange rate of N1,540 to the US dollar, the targeted $100 million equates to approximately N154 billion.

This capital raise is expected to position the Group to fully meet the N500 billion minimum paid-up share capital required by regulators for banks with international licenses.

As of now, both Zenith Bank and Access Holdings have already met—and exceeded—this threshold.

 


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E-Financial

NAICOM Issues New Licenses to SanlamAllianz Life, General Insurance

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The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has handed over new licenses to SanlamAllianz Life and General Insurance Nigeria Ltd at brief ceremony held in Abuja.

Olusegun Omosehin, commissioner for Insurance emphasized the Commission’s commitment to supporting the growth of insurance entities in the country, while ensuring strict compliance with regulatory requirements. He urged the companies to prioritize good corporate governance, stability, and timely claims settlement processes.

The Commissioner reiterated NAICOM’s dedication to removing unnecessary bottlenecks and improving the insurance industry’s overall performance. He expressed confidence that the merger would enhance the companies’ capabilities and contribute to the industry’s growth.

SanlamAllianz recently launched its operations in Nigeria, marking a significant step in the company’s Pan-African expansion.

The launch follows the merger of Sanlam and Allianz’s Nigerian operations, creating a new entity named SanlamAllianz Nigeria.

This joint venture aims to transform the Nigerian insurance landscape by offering enhanced customer experiences, innovative solutions, and improved financial inclusion.


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E-Financial

World Bank Approves Extra $65m for Nigeria’s SPESSE

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World Bank has approved an additional $65 million loan for Nigeria to support the Sustainable Procurement, Environmental, and Social Standards Enhancement (SPESSE) project, increasing the total financing for the initiative to $145 million.

World Bank Approves Extra $65m for Nigeria’s SPESSE

The approval was granted on June 24, 2025, according to details posted on the World Bank’s website, which also indicates that the project’s status has moved to “active” following the approval.

The SPESSE project, initially launched with an $80 million loan approved in February 2020, aims to strengthen institutional capacity for managing procurement, environmental, and social standards in both the public and private sectors across Nigeria.

The World Bank described the project’s development objective as the establishment of sustainable capacity in these areas.

This latest approval is part of a broader wave of financing expected from the World Bank to Nigeria in 2025.

The bank is scheduled to approve loans totalling $1.61 billion over the coming months, supporting various development initiatives.

Among these is a $300 million loan for the ‘Solutions for the Internally Displaced and Host Communities Project,’ expected to be finalised by the end of July.

This project aims to improve access to basic services and economic opportunities for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host communities in selected local government areas in northern Nigeria.

In September, the World Bank plans to approve four additional loans: a $10.5 million facility to support technical assistance for the Central Bank of Nigeria, a $300 million Health Security Program targeting Western and Central Africa (Nigeria – Phase IV), a $500 million project for building resilient digital infrastructure (BRIDGE), and a $500 million loan under the Nigeria Sustainable Agricultural Value-Chains for Growth project aimed at promoting sustainable growth and job creation within key agricultural sectors.

Earlier in March 2025, the bank approved three financing requests amounting to $1.13 billion.

These funds are directed towards projects focused on enhancing quality education, boosting household and community resilience, and improving nutrition.

Among the approved loans were $80 million for the Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria 2.0 project, $552 million for the HOPE for Quality Basic Education for All programme, and $500 million for the Community Action for Resilience and Economic Stimulus Programme.

In February, the Nigerian government announced expectations of new World Bank loans totalling $2.2 billion for six different projects in 2025. This follows a $1.5 billion loan disbursed in 2024 aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s economic stability and resource mobilisation efforts.


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