Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has banned the payment of cash into domiciliary accounts in the country. In a circular released on Wednesday and signed by Olakanmi Gbadamosi,
the director of trade and exchange, the central bank said its action
followed recent statements by individual banks suspending the payment of
foreign currencies into domiciliary accounts. Gbadamosi wrote: “The
Central Bank of Nigeria has considered the recent statements by Deposit
Money Banks (DMBs) concerning the large volume of foreign currencies in
their vaults and the decision to stop accepting foreign currency cash
deposits into customers’ domiciliary accounts as a welcome development.
“Therefore, in its continued efforts to stop illicit financial flows in
the Nigerian banking system which aligns with the anti-money Laundering
stance of the Federal Government, the CBN hereby prohibits from the date
of this circular the acceptance of foreign currency cash deposits by
DMBs. “For foreign currency cash lodgments made prior to the date of
this circular, the account holder has the option to either withdraw his
or her foreign currency cash or the Naira equivalent.
For the avoidance of doubt, only wire transfers to and from Domiciliary Accounts are henceforth permissible. “The CBN advises individuals that wish to source foreign currency for eligible and legitimate purposes such as BTA, PTA medical, mortgage, school fees, goods etc. to do so through recognized channels with the use of Form ‘A’ for “invisible” and Form ‘M’ for “visible” transactions.”
By this circular, those who deposited foreign currencies into their accounts before the directive will now have to withdraw the cash as they are not going to be allowed to transfer the funds.
....