The Nigerian regulatory system has been buzzing with diverse levels of policy violations actors. The Central Bank of Nigeria’s regulatory systems trends the African financial market with the billion Naira worth of lawsuits filed against six commercial banks in Nigeria. Several cases have reported victims of regulatory charges are due to zero regard for extant policies
Recall, that the CBN’s previous policy prohibits commercial banks from trading with cryptocurrency or any featured means of transacting with cryptocurrencies. The CBN cryptocurrency restrictions in the Nigerian financial markets serve partial roleplay where the federal regulator solely comprehends how beneficial the sanctioned crypto market leverage financial inclusion.
The CBN fined six commercial banks such as Fidelity Bank, Access Bank, Wema Bank, Stanbic IBTC, First City Monument Bank (FCMB), and the United Bank of Africa (UBA) for erring policy in allowing their customers to transact with cryptocurrencies. This places the commercial banks vulnerable to CBN’s regulations and likewise bolsters the CBN’s ego flaunting its professionalism in detecting clandestine operations.
Cryptocurrency network complexity exists in blockchain technology and is visible to crypto traders. The CBN’s Arcanum intelligence penetrated commercial banks’ networks to access its cryptocurrency exchange dealings unaware of commercial banks because its customers’ cryptocurrency exchange operated stealthily.
The affected commercial banks omitted the cryptocurrency dealings visible on their books of accounts the CBN detected after scrutiny. The CBN did not take chances to scold commercial banks for erring their authority. The CBN rulings fined commercial banks differently per the level of cryptocurrency transaction exchange via their commercial banks’ network.
A preview of CBN fines for erred policy:
Access Bank was charged the highest fine of N500m due to its neglect of shutting down the cryptocurrency network its customers created per the smooth banking interaction Access bank established. Access bank is the biggest lender institution in Africa per the enormous amount of assets the CBN revealed Access Bank derived most of its assets from the crypto market.
The First City Monument Bank (FCMB) makes second on the list of commercial banks to face CBN’s lawsuit. The FCMB is charged an N400m fine for the negligence of closing four accounts the CBN detected to be linked to the crypto market for possible exchange.
Stanbic IBTC makes the CBN’s list facing an N200m lawsuit charge for erring the CBN anti-cryptocurrency policy. The CBN detected two accounts linked with the crypto market for possible financial inclusion. The crypto account was linked to the local unit of Standard Bank Group Ltd.
The likes of UBA and Wema bank got the same level of CBN fine charged a hundred million Naira each for allowing customers to participate in the crypto market.
On the other hand, Fidelity bank was charged the least fine of N14.28 million. The CBN claims Fidelity bank’s tie with cryptocurrency is not as severe as the likes of other banks listed above.
The CBN remains the apex bank of all other banks in Nigeria which also includes its regulatory system that serves as a watchdog to the banking industry. The CBN boasts of its advanced capacity detectable to cryptocurrency exchange regardless of the P2P system customers have used to maneuver commercial banks’ involvement.
Still, the P2P network cannot evade the CBN’s advanced capacity technique detectable to commercial banks’ involvement with the crypto market. The CBN has reportedly fined six commercial banks N1.315 billion for erring its cryptocurrency policy. Techbooky suggests that more commercial banks will be added to the list for erred policy by the apex bank of Nigeria.
