National Bank of Malawi (NBM) plc yesterday told Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that legally it cannot disclose details of how K90 billion paid to Yusuf Investments Limited for Amaryllis Hotel purchase was disbursed.
Presenting the Malawi Stock Exchange-listed bank’s position during the inquiry into the K128 billion acquisition of Amaryllis Hotel by Public Service Pension Trust Fund at Parliament Building in Lilongwe, NBM plc head of legal and company secretary Zunzo Mitole said the law limits how much customer information banks can give to third parties.
In a presentation The Nation sourced, she said: “But as well as this, banks operate as financial intermediaries that hold a high level of trust from their customers and the public as a whole because of the customers’ money that they hold and the financial transactions they handle for their customers.”
Mitole, who was accompanied by NBM plc chief executive officer Harold Jiya and chief risk officer Charles Ulaya, said customers enter into a legal contract with banks the moment they open bank accounts and one of the conditions is that the bank will not disclose their information.
“Disclosure without the customers’ consent could therefore lead to breach of contract and legal action for damages for the breach,” she said, also citing common law duty of confidentiality in the case of Tournier v National Provincial and Union Bank of England 1 KB 461 where the court ruled that banks have a duty of confidentiality to their customers.
Mitole, a lawyer, also cited Section 8 of the Data Protection Act which prohibits the disclosure of customer data or information without the explicit consent of the customer.
PAC sought details on beneficiary accounts, transfers and whether any of the money was channelled to the hotel’s operational accounts.
Jiya told the inquiry that funds in the account that received the proceeds remain frozen following a directive from the Financial Intelligence Authority (FIA).
“When we got an order… all the accounts were frozen on March 13 2026… The funds that were there when RBM [Reserve Bank of Malawi] and FIA came to us remain the same,” he said.
Jiya further said the hotel’s operational accounts were later unfrozen to allow business continuity, but did not cover the sale proceeds.
In response, PAC chairperson Steven Malondera said the committee was seeking to “track the money” and expressed frustration at the bank’s position.
“Today it appears they [the bank] are changing the goal posts,” he said, referring to earlier submissions indicating some accounts were frozen and later partially unfrozen.
Malondera questioned whether the hotel’s operational accounts could have remained unaffected, given reported financial pressures on the business.
The committee also noted that earlier submissions referenced cheque images and closed circuit television footage linked to the transactions, which were not included in the latest response.
But Jiya said the bank would consider providing more details if Parliament made a more specific request.
PAC later suspended the proceedings, saying it could not proceed without the required information.
Malondera said the committee will now formally request the details and re-engage RBM and FIA to establish how the funds moved.
PAC reopened the inquiry after earlier findings were challenged for excluding key witnesses.
