KELVIN EGERUE, Business Editor with agency report

Some commodity fund managers believe oil prices could slide to $60 per barrel if OPEC does not agree a significant output cut when it meets in Vienna this week.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 have fallen by a third since June, touching a four-year low of $76.76 a barrel on Nov. 14.
They could tumble further if OPEC does not agree to cut at least one million barrels per day (bpd), according to some commodity fund managers’ forecasts.
“The market would question the credibility of OPEC and its influence on global oil markets if there was no cut,” said Daniel Bathe, of Lupus Alpha Commodity Invest Fund.

United Bank for Africa (UBA) said at the weekend that foreign currency transfer has taken a new dimension with the introduction of FX transfer capability on the UBA’s Online Banking platform U-Direct. The new service allows the bank’s customers to transfer funds from their Domiciliary Account to any account in the world within 24 hours. The commencement of this service could not have come at a better time, considering the anticipated flurry of remittance activities as the festive season sets in.

STAN OKENWA

Nigerians are set to enjoy new model of mobile money as Access Bank Plc confirmed that it has collaborated with Airtel to develop mobile money service called Access Money to be powered by Airtel.
The new platform according to Access Bank will allow customers to perform simple, secure and instant financial transactions using their mobile phones as customers on the mobile network can send and receive money, make deposits and withdrawals, pay their utility bills and buy airtime for their lines.

Naira shed 0.76 percent on Friday to close at a record low against the greenback, despite the central bank intervening for a fifth day with dollar sales to prop up the currency.
The unit closed at N177.45 to the dollar, weaker than Thursday’s close of N176.10. It had initially weakened to N177.12, prompting the central bank to ask 21 commercial lenders to bid for $2 million apiece.

COMFORT EKELEME

Secretary to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Mr. Edosa Aigbekaen has stressed the need for shareholder groups to be more responsive at ensuring accountability and effective management of their company instead of focusing on short term profits.
He also urged shareholders to take more interest in sustainable returns and longer term performance in order to be active on corporate governance issues.

Barely three months after it was conferred with an award as the Best Bank in Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS),Sterling Bank said that it has bagged yet another award in the Agriculture sector as it received the “Agric Bank of the Year 2014 in Nigeria” award.
The award which was powered by the Agriculture Policy Research Network (APRNet) and AgroNigeria Limited was presented to the bank at a dinner and conferment ceremony where President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan also received the award of the grand Transformer of Nigerian Agriculture.  

COMFORT EKELEME

There are strong indications that some Primary Mortgage Banks (PMBs) may go under before the end of this year following their inability to meet up with the new capital requirement set by the Central bank of Nigeria (CBN).
CBN had in a notice to all PMBs set December 30, 2013 as deadline for the completion of their recapitalization processes. But CBN had later extended the deadline to June 30, 2014. Despite the extension, investigations revealed that a good number of the firms are still struggling to survive, a development that proved that they might close shop by the end of the 2014 financial year.