CBN provides fresh guidelines on diaspora remittances

03 Dec CBN provides fresh guidelines on diaspora remittances

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued fresh guidelines on the management and payment of diaspora remittances to recipients, mandating the international money transfer operator (IMTO) to ensure that transfer funds are deposited in “the agent bank’s correspondent account”.

In the circular issued yesterday it also authorized the recipients to decide how they would be paid.

“The mode of payment either in cash or transfer is at the sole discretion of the beneficiaries/recipients,” said the circular signed by Director, Trade and Exchange Department, Dr. Ozoemena Nnaji.

The apex bank also said the commercial banks, as against IMTOs, would henceforth take responsibility for payment of remittances to beneficiaries/recipients.

“Agent banks (Deposit Money Banks) in Nigeria will be responsible for final payment to beneficiaries/recipients either in foreign currency cash (USD) or into the beneficiaries’/recipients’ domiciliary account in Nigeria,” CBN stated.

The directive followed a similar one issued on Monday on the domiciliary account management. The bank had in the earlier circular provided policy guidelines on the operation of export proceeds and ordinary domiciliary accounts.

According to the regulator, holders of export proceeds domiciliary accounts could only use funds from the account for business operations or sell at the investors’ and exporters’ (I&E) window. This foreclosed a possible transaction with parallel market dealers.

The use of funds in ordinary domiciliary accounts was also, by the circular, limited to transfer and “eligible transactions”.

The directives, CBN said, were necessary to prevent money laundering and dollarization of the economy.