The identities of defaulters who circumvent the Central Bank of Nigeria’s policy on Foreign Exchange will be made public, according to a new circular from banks to their customers.
The CBN had earlier directed that the names and BVNs of customers who engage in fraudulent and dishonest practices to obtain foreign exchanges should be published by commercial banks.
The CBN had said, “Consequently, further to the various measures already put in place, all banks are hereby directed to publish on their websites the names and BVN of defaulting customers who present fake travel documents or cancel their tickets and fail to return the purchased PTA/BTA within two weeks as stipulated in the customer declaration form signed by them.”
First Bank and United Bank for Africa, UBA, have followed the directions and informed their customers of the implementation of this CBN policy.
“We have been directed by the Central Bank of Nigeria to inform all our customers that unethical practices to circumvent the new CBN policy on the sale of forex, such as the presentation of false travel documents, visas, and the cancellation of flight tickets after purchasing personal travel allowance and business travel allowance, will no longer be tolerated.
“Defaulting customers who present fraudulent travel credentials or cancel their tickets and fail to refund the purchased PTA and BTA within two weeks, as stated in the signed customer declaration form, will have their identities and bank verification numbers published.
“We aim to implement this policy immediately as an organisation that is fully compliant with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s rules and regulations.
“Our bank is committed to partnering with the CBN to ensure a transparent, efficient and stable FX Market that meets the needs of all legitimate users.” First Bank said in an email to customers.
An e-mail sent by the UBA read, “In line with our promise to keep you up to date on policies that may affect you, please note that the CBN has directed all banks to publish a list of PTA/BTA defaulters on their website.
“Customers involved in fraudulent practices such as presenting fake visas or cancelling airline tickets after receiving PTA/BTA and failing to return the funds received to the bank within two weeks will have their details published (name and BVN) on our website.”
The New Diplomat had earlier reported that CBN had gotten permission from the Federal High Court in Abuja to freeze 86 accounts of some companies and individuals over their alleged involvement in fraudulent foreign exchange (FOREX) activities.
CBN says these activities are negatively affecting the value of the Naira.
The request was filed by former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Michael Aondoakaa, SAN, on behalf of the CBN.
The affected companies include Risevest Technologies Limited, Bamboo Systems Technology Limited, Bamboo Systems Tech. Ltd., CTL/Business Expenses and Trove Technologies Limited.
Others are Chayomi Multi Services Limited, Ningbo Excel Enterprises Limited and Dagang Enterprises. Also, some of the frozen accounts belong to individuals.
The order from the Federal High court empowers the CBN to direct heads of Zenith Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Access Bank and VFD Microfinance Bank to freeze transactions on the 86 accounts for a minimum period of 90 days.
The accounts will remain frozen pending the outcome of the investigation and inquiry currently being conducted by the CBN.
The CBN accused the companies of contravening its directive issued in July 2015 by using the foreign exchange sourced from the Nigerian market to purchase foreign bonds/shares, therefore undercutting the strength of the naira against the dollar.
The apex bank also accused the firms of operating as asset management companies without obtaining appropriate licencing. In an affidavit submitted to the court by the senior supervisor of the CBN, Christiana Gyang, the apex bank investigated the activities of the defendants and determined their alleged involvement in illegal dealings in FOREX.
She stated that the investigation showed that the companies violated Nigeria’s trading laws including dealing in cryptocurrency.
Gyang in her deposition said that the CBN discovered serious infractions by the defendants in connection with some foreign exchange transactions.
“That more specifically, there is a grave allegation that the defendants/respondents are engaged in illegal foreign exchange transactions, accessing/procuring of foreign exchange ‘via their banks from the Nigerian Foreign Exchange ‘Market via several bureaux de change, International Money Transfer Operators and have transferred cash deposit of more than $10,000.00 (Ten thousand dollars) to various accounts overseas contrary to provisions of extant laws and regulations and also traded in foreign securities and cryptocurrencies in contravention to CBN ‘Circular referenced TED/FEM/FPC/GEN/01/012.
“The aforesaid transactions undertaken by the defendants using their bank accounts has caused and is causing significant financial loss to members of the public if left unchecked to mitigate the likelihood of reputation /legal risk on the bank.”
