ABSTRACT
This study undertakes a critical examination of the capital
structures of First Bank of Nigeria Plc, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc
and United Bank for Africa. It also looked at the extent to which
banks implement the risk based capital adequacy framework in
their banking operation. The study examined whether banks
have enough qualified supervisors to oversee those banks, and
also whether the data made available to banks are of substantial
quality. The researcher also looked into the level of fraud with
regard to protecting depositor’s interest. The method of data
collection used was of both primary and secondary sources. For
the primary data, questionnaires were used while for the
secondary source, included annual magazines, periodic report,
quarterly publications, annual financial reviews, seminars,
conference papers etc.
Techniques of analysis were descriptive
statistics, tabular presentation of data and the chi-square
statistic. Major Findings showed that the capital structure of
First Bank of Nigeria, Union Bank of Nigeria and United Bank for
Africa is very adequate to support all their risk exposures, the
credit risk of the case studied banks however adversely affect
their profitability and financial soundness, though marginally. It
is recommended that the case studied banks should develop
structured ways of assessing existing risks and projecting risk
profiles of their various lines of business. They should also have
the ability to identify high risk areas and determine the methods
of risk assessment to use.
