The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued a note of warning to Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and Other Financial Institutions (OFIs) in the country against transactions of any sort to the Russian Federation, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Iran, Cameroun and others. The warning was contained in a circular referenced: FPR/AML/PUB/BOF/001/029, issued on Thursday by the Director, Financial Policy and Regulation, Mr. Chibuzo Efobi.
The circular established that Nigerian banks and other financial institutions should be wary of transactions with the outlined countries and others such as Croatia and Vietnam. It reiterated that restrictions have been placed on the above countries as they are now under the clutch of high-risk jurisdictions list by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
“The attention of banks and other Financial Institutions is drawn to the outcomes of Financial Action Task Force Plenary conducted from June 21-23, 2023 and subsequent addition of Cameroon, Croatia and Vietnam to the list of jurisdictions under ‘Increased Monitoring.”
CBN
“Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Iran and Myanmar remain on the list of high-risk jurisdictions, subject to Call for Action”, the circular says.
To protect the global financial system, the circular stated that increased due diligence should be used and that countermeasures would be taken in extreme circumstances. The circular also stated that the FATF would suspend the Russian Federation and the other countries listed with immediate effect.
.As a result of the FATF members’ decision at a plenary last month, the CBN issued a warning note to the country’s deposit money banks (DMBs) and other financial institutions (OFIs) to put an end to any business or individual-to-individual transactions in of the blacklisted countries.
About Financial Action Task Force
The Financial Action Task Force is an intergovernmental organization founded in 1989 on the initiative of the G7(Group of seven countries). The goal of the Force is to develop policies to combat money laundering and maintain certain interest global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog. This include terrorism financing.
Also, this Force sets international standards that aim to prevent illegal activities and the harm they could pose on society.
Since 2000, FATF has maintained the FATF blacklist (formally called the “Call for action”) and the FATF grey-list (formally called the “Other monitored jurisdictions”). The blacklist has led financial institutions to shift resources and services away from the listed, and this in turn has motivated domestic economic and political actors in the listed countries to pressure their governments to introduce regulations that are compliant with the FATF.
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