June 24, (THEWILL) – The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has directed Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and other financial institutions in the country to obtain the social media handles, residential addresses, Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) and other vital information of their customers.
The directive, contained in a ‘Central Bank of Nigeria (Customer Due Diligence) Regulations, 2023’ document, according to the apex bank, is necessary, “To provide additional customer due diligence measures for financial institutions under the regulatory purview of the Central Bank of Nigeria, to further their compliance with relevant provisions of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act (MLPPA), 2022, Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act (TPPA), 2022, Central Bank of Nigeria (Anti-Money Laundering, Combatting the Financing of Terrorism and Countering Proliferation Financing of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Financial Institutions) Regulations, 2022 (CBN AML, CFT and CPF Regulations) and international best practices.
“And enable the CBN to enforce compliance with customer due diligence measures in line with the CBN AML, CFT, and CPF Regulations.”
Under the CBN KYC regulations, commercial banks are mandated to use technology to monitor customers’ transactions with a view to preventing financial-related crimes.
“……financial institutions are required to have robust, effective, and efficient AML/CFT solutions with screening tools in place that will monitor the various thresholds. All accounts, no matter how low the transactions or the risks, must be subjected to continuous suspicious transaction monitoring by financial institutions which will determine when incremental KYC requirements need to be provided by the customers”, the CBN said
The apex bank further noted that an individual must have at least an unexpired passport, national identification card, residence permit, social security records, or driver’s licence.
The apex bank added that as part of the requirement to open an account, the type of account and nature of the banking relationship, signature, and politically exposed person status must be stated.
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