The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is the country’s apex bank and financial sector watchdog. In the course of its routine surveillance, the CBN discovered that some banks, including Access Bank, Fidelity Bank, United Bank of Africa, and Stanbic IBTC Bank, disobeyed its directives to prevent their clients from using banking infrastructure for crypto activities.
According to a Bloomberg report, these directives were announced in February 2021. The erring financial institutions have subsequently been fined by the CBN.
According to reports, Stanbic Bank was fined N200 million, while Access Bank was fined N500 million. Fidelity Bank is slated to pay N14.3 million, and UBA has been fined N100 million.
The Central Bank of Nigeria prohibited the use of banking infrastructure or channels for crypto trading activities in February 2021. Banks have been directed to bar any cryptocurrency-related transactions and to block the accounts of individuals or organizations involved in such activities.
According to Wole Adeniyi, CEO of Stanbic IBTC, the bank obeyed the CBN’s directives, but the two transactions for which the apex bank is being fined were the consequences of negligence. The transactions occurred without the bank being aware that they were cryptocurrency-related.
Adeniyi went on to state that they are in negotiations with the CBN about using the proprietary software that allowed the apex bank to detect crypto transactions to prevent future occurrences. “It doesn’t seem that they are going to entertain a refund, but they are now sharing intelligence with us to be able to kind of deter clients,” he said.
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