Investors behind the proposed Coin Finance Company Ltd have demanded the return of N100.35m paid to the Central Bank of Nigeria for a finance house licence, alongside applicable interest, following the suspension of new licence applications.

Promoter Representative, Mr Christopher Itua, made the demand in a statement issued on Sunday, saying the funds had remained with the apex bank for about 15 months without the proposed institution progressing.

The investors said they paid N100m as capital deposit, N100,000 as application fee and N250,000 as licensing fee on 16 July, 2025, bringing the total payment to N100.35m.

The payment was made as part of the requirements for licensing Coin Finance Company Ltd as a finance house. However, Itua said CBN officials informed the promoters in October 2025 that processing of new finance house applications had been suspended until further notice.

Following the suspension, he wrote the CBN Department of Financial Policy and Regulation on 15 October, 2025, requesting the return of the funds with applicable interest.

The promoters later petitioned the CBN Consumer Protection Department on 18 May, 2026, and sent a follow-up letter on 7 July, but said they had received neither a refund timeline nor a substantive update.

“It has now been over 14 months since the CBN took possession of our capital,” Itua said in his latest appeal to the CBN Governor.

He said the proposed finance house was designed to address a financing gap at the grassroots and strengthen economic activity at the micro level.

“The Finance House is meant to boost grassroots empowerment, a sector that is very important to strengthening the micro economy,” he said.

Itua said inadequate institutions serving small businesses and grassroots entrepreneurs remained a major constraint despite improvements in the broader macroeconomic environment.

“The macro is doing well, but the micro is not. This is the missing link because there are not enough institutions to power that sector,” he said.

According to him, the prolonged retention of the capital had stalled the promoters’ plans to establish the institution and provide financial support at the grassroots.

The investors are asking the CBN to calculate applicable interest on the N100.35m from 16 July, 2025, when the funds were deposited, until the date of release.

“The prolonged silence and structural failure to return capital deposits directly undermines the Federal Government’s ease-of-doing-business initiatives,” Itua said.

The promoters said their payment receipts, transaction documents and previous correspondence had been submitted to support the request.

Itua appealed to the CBN Governor to intervene and resolve the matter administratively, stressing that the promoters had repeatedly used the bank’s established channels.

They said continued inaction could compel them to pursue further administrative and legal channels, although they preferred to resolve the matter without escalation. (The PUNCH)