The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN has banned banks from any transactions in virtual currencies. The CBN issued a statement, see details below.
“The emergence of Virtual Currencies (VCs) has attracted investments in payments infrastructure that provides new methods of transmitting value over the internet. Exchange platforms Virtual currencies “Transactions in VCs are largely untraceable and anonymous making them susceptible to abuse by criminals, especially in money laundering and financing of terrorism.
VCs are traded in exchange platforms that are unregulated, all over the world. Consumers may, therefore, lose their money without any legal redress in the event these exchanges collapse or close business. “The development of VCs Payment Products and Services (VCPPS) and their interactions with other New Payment Products and Services (NPPS), give rise to the need for guidance to protect the integrity of the Nigerian financial system. There is, therefore, the need to address the Money Laundering/Terrorism Financing risks associated with VC exchanges and any other type of institutions that act as nodes, where convertible VC activities intersect with the regulated fiat currency financial system.
“The attention of banks and other reporting financial institutions is hereby drawn to the above risks and you are required to take the following actions pending substantive regulation or decision by the CBN;
- Ensure that you do not use, hold, and /or transact in any way in virtual currencies;
- Ensure that existing customers, that are virtual currency exchangers, have effective AML/CFT controls that enable them to comply with customer identification, verification and transaction monitoring requirements;
- “Where banks or other financial institutions are not satisfied with the controls put in place by the virtual currency exchangers/customers, the relationship should be discontinued immediately; and any suspicious transactions by these customers should immediately be reported to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).”
The apex bank reiterated that VCs such as Bitcoin, Ripples, Monero, Litecoin, Dogecion, Onecoin, etc. and similar products are not legal tenders in Nigeria, thus any bank or institution that transacts in such business does so at its own risk.”
Analysis
The CBN reasons for placing these restrictions on Virtual Currencies are sustainable, but as the CBN has acknowledge VCs are Untraceable, Unregulated and Anonymous. This this calls to question how the CBN will go about enforcing these rules.
VC use, acceptance and value has increased, the focus of the CBN we believe should be in creating rules to govern the acceptance of VC in Nigeria. Banning the use, simply pushes VC to become less open, and less subject to regulation
