The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) imposed a fine of N800million on three Nigeria banks —Access Bank Plc, Stanbic IBTC Bank and United Bank for Africa Plc for facilitating cryptocurrency transactions in 2021 in breach of a directive from the apex regulator last year, banning such deals, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.
The CBN had in 2021 ordered Nigerian banks to close down all bank accounts linked to cryptocurrency trading.
According to the CBN, cryptocurrency poses risks to Nigeria’s financial system, hence the ban. But despite the ban, Nigeria has continued to rank as a major global hub for cryptocurrency usage.
Access Bank Plc received the largest portion of the fine at N500m while Stanbic IBTC Bank and UBA incurred N200million fine and N100million fine respectively for the same infraction, according to the newswire.
Last February, the CBN embargoed cryptocurrency trading, and instructed banks to disallow transactions in it, noting they could trigger an exposure of the financial system to danger.
Wole Adeniyi, Stanbic IBTC’s chief, stated his bank heeded the order but admitted the two deals for which it is being punished is more of negligence than infringement as the transactions were processed through its system without the lender discovering it, the news outlet reported.
The industry watchdog spotted the transactions and their details, by way of an ultramodern surveillance technology currently exclusive to it.
Adeniyi said lenders are in talks with the CBN to give them leave to use the software.
“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.