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.
