CBN to blacklist customers involved in sharp forex practices

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it has opened a black book for customers obtaining foreign exchange under false pretense. According to the apex bank, foreign exchange should be strictly meant for banks customers on genuine trips overseas, adding that those using travel documents to obtain foreign exchange and thereafter cancel their purported trips to divert the forex for other use would be blacklisted.

The Director of Banking Supervision, Haruna Mustafa, gave the notice via a circular yesterday, to all deposit money banks. The purpose, though not clearly stated, might be to use the list to bar some customers from accessing forex in the future.

The circular reads thus: The CBN has received and noted with concern reports of sharp practices by some unscrupulous customers to circumvent the new CBN policy on the sale of forex for overseas personal and business travel.

Some of these unwholesome practices include the use of fake visas and cancellation of air tickets after purchase of PTA/BTA. This trend, if not curbed, portends risk to the integrity and stability of the forex market.

“Consequently, further to the various measures already put in place, all banks are hereby directed to publish on their websites the names and BVN of defaulting customers who present fake travel documents or cancel their tickets and fail to return the purchased PTA/BTA within two (weeks) as stipulated in the customer declaration form signed by them.”

The CBN, had in the last two months, deployed a number of strategies to manage its failing reserves, including barring the allocation of forex to Bureaux de Change in an effort to streamline forex deployment in the country.