Tella said that it was
wrong for banks to allow transactions in such accounts within the last
18 months.
“If transactions have been taking place in such accounts within the last
18 months, the bank itself will be in trouble,’’ Tella said.
He said that it was right to execute the order to allow for forfeiture
of the illegal funds. Read more: https://www.naij.com/1131740-financial-experts-commend-fgs-move-freeze-bvn-accounts.html#1131740
A Federal High Court in
Abuja ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the 19 commercial
banks in the country to disclose all accounts in their custody and the
balances in such accounts.
The court ordered the banks to disclose the details of all such
accounts, their owners and their proceeds in their affidavit of
compliance deposed to by their Chief Compliance Officers.
It also made an interim order directing the banks to freeze all the said
accounts by stopping “all outward payments, operations or
transactions’’ pending the hearing of the substantive application
seeking the forfeiture of the balances in the accounts to the Federal
Government.
The banks were also directed to disclose “any investments made with
funds from these accounts without BVN in any products’’.
Such investments to be disclosed by the banks as directed by the court
include “fixed/term deposits and their liquidation and interest
incurred, bank acceptances, commercial papers and any other relevant
information related to the transaction made on the accounts’’.
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Dr Uche Uwaleke, head of banking and finance department, Nasarawa tate
University Keffi, said that compliance with the court order would help
to check fraudulent practices, including money laundering.
“I’m totally in support of the court order to freeze all individual and
corporate accounts in commercial banks not covered by the BVN.
“It should have even been made long before now considering that the
deadline issued by the CBN expired long ago,’’ Uwaleke said.
He said that operating an account without BVN violated the “know your
customer’’ directive by the CBN as well as the money laundering Act.
“Why should a bank operate a non-BVN account except for fraudulent
reasons?
“So, compliance with the court order will help to check fraudulent
practices including money laundering,’’ Uwaleke added.
He said that it would also help to expose questionable sources of wealth
such as ones from crime like kidnapping and theft of public funds.
“It will boost the government’s fight against corruption, improve the
country’s image and promote investor confidence in Nigeria,’’ he stated.
Prof. Sheriffdeen Tella, professor of economics, department of
economics, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun, said that all
accounts by now should have BVN unless an illegal account Read more: https://www.naij.com/1131740-financial-experts-commend-fgs-move-freeze-bvn-accounts.html#1131740
BVN is a unique
identification number that can be verified and used to transact business
across all the banking platforms in Nigeria.
Read more: https://www.naij.com/1131740-financial-experts-commend-fgs-move-freeze-bvn-accounts.html#1131740
- Head of banking
Nasarawa state University Keffi, Uche Uwaleke, says the compliance with
the court order on accounts not linked to BVN would help check
fraudulent practices
- Sheriffdeen Tella, professor of economics at the department of
economics, Olabisi Onabanjo University, states that all accounts by now
should have BVN unless an illegal account
- President Buhari orders the immediate disengagement of Abdulrasheed
Maina from service
Financial experts on Monday, October 23, said the federal government’s
move to freeze all accounts not covered by Bank Verification Number
(BVN) would check money laundering.
The financial experts told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos
while reacting to the court order by the federal government mandating
banks to freeze all individual and corporate accounts not covered by
BVN. Read more: https://www.naij.com/1131740-financial-experts-commend-fgs-move-freeze-bvn-accounts.html#1131740
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