By Yakubu LAAH InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Tuesday confirmed that it’s investigating Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), on allegations of breach of corporate governance.

SEC said this in a statement signed by its management and made available to InvestAdvocate by Yakubu Olaleye, its head of media.

“In view of recent media reports on Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) confirms that it is investigating allegations of corporate governance breaches at ETI.

We assure the investing public that the investigation will as usual be thorough and rigorous and will ensure adequate protection of the investor,” the statement said.

This is coming on the heels of a recent report by Reuters that Nigeria‘s SEC is investigating ETI over an alleged misstatement of its 2012 performance.

According to the report, the commission held meetings with Ecobank’s board directors on Aug. 6 to discuss the issue, which was raised by Laurence do Rego, a suspended former head of finance at the bank.

The report affirmed that SEC had sent queries about Ecobank’s 2012 performance to all the directors, in line with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) corporate governance code.

ETI had in March this year reported a profit after tax (PBT) of $287 million in 2012 end, up 39% from the previous year.

The Reuters report further affirmed that the core element (of the allegation) … is on material misstatement of facts on ETI’s performance according to a source at the commission.