The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has released guidelines to financial institutions in the country on the management of dormant accounts, noting that the purpose of the guidelines is to identify, warehouse, hold in trust and connect with the beneficial owners of such funds.
The apex bank stipulated these guidelines last Friday through a circular with reference number FPR/DIR/PUB/CIR/002/011 directed to all banks and financial institutions in the country.
“The CBN hereby issues the revised Guidelines on the management of dormant accounts, unclaimed balances, and other financial assets in banks and other financial institutions in Nigeria to banks and other financial institutions for implementation. This is sequel to the conclusion of the review of the Guidelines on the management of dormant accounts and other unclaimed funds by banks and other financial institutions in Nigeria issued in October 2015,” the CBN said.
Eligible accounts are dormant account balances that must have remained with the financial institutions for a period of ten (10) years and beyond. The unclaimed balances and other financial assets include current, savings and term deposits in local currency; domiciliary accounts, deposits towards the purchase of shares and mutual investments; prepaid card accounts and wallets, government owned accounts, and proceeds of uncleared and unpresented financial instruments belonging to customers or non-customers of financial institutions, among others.
Others include unclaimed salaries and wages, commissions and bonuses; proceeds of stale local and/or foreign drafts not presented for payment by beneficiaries; funds received from a correspondent bank without sufficient details as to the rightful beneficiary and/or a recall of funds made to the remitting bank to which the Nigerian bank account had not been debited, just to mention a few.
“The CBN shall open and maintain an account earmarked for the purpose of warehousing unclaimed balances in eligible accounts. The account shall be called “Unclaimed Balances Trust Fund (UBTF) Pool Account,” CBN stated.
For financial institutions in liquidation, the circular states that the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) shall assume the role of financial institutions.
The financial institutions in the country are to monitor and notify customers as well as protect such accounts from unauthorised usage. They are to equally ensure procedures that will ensure continuous contact with customers to reduce the incidence of dormant accounts.
The Guidelines expect the financial institutions in the country to maintain records of procedures and period efforts to contact customers with inactive accounts, while advising customers on the need to inform their financial institutions on changes in their names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and next of kins.
The CBN further advised financial institutions to formulate policies for the recognition and management of dormant accounts and financial assets that are consistent with this Guidelines and other extant regulations, establish effective controls to ensure surveillance and second level authorization on reactivation of dormant accounts, among other measures; maintain records including a register of dormant accounts balances as well as transfer balances that have remained in the dormant account register for up to ten (10) years to the ‘UBTF Pool Account.
In another development, the apex bank has disclosed that it sold a total of $106.5 million to authorised dealers in order to reduce distortion in the retail end of the forex market.
“Over the next few weeks, the CBN will continue to support various segments of the official markets with liquidity.
“In line with the above, the CBN on Thursday, July 18, and Friday, July 19, 2024, sold a total sum of $106,500,000.00 to 29 authorised dealer banks between an exchange rate range of N1498/$1 to $1530/$1. In addition, it bought $9,500,000 from 4 authorised dealer banks at rates between N1510/$1 and N1550/$1. The value date for all the transactions is July 19, 2024,” Dr Omolara Omotunde Duke, said through a statement.
Therefore, the CBN asked Nigerians in need of forex to direct their requests to banks and BDC operators in the country in accordance with the prevailing market regulations in the country.
