CBN fines Stanbic IBTC for cryptocurrency transactions

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has fined Nigerian commercial bank, Stanbic IBTC a total of N200 million for failing to obey the regulations prohibiting cryptocurrencies transactions by consumers.

Recall that efforts have been made by the CBN to tighten down cryptocurrency transactions in the country, according to a report by bloomberg,the sanction was made to ensure that commercial banks take heed to restricting cryptocurrency transactions.

It was also disclosed that cryptocurrency transactions could be detected by the CBN where commercial banks fails to fish it out. In the report, Stanbic IBTC , the local unit of Standard Bank Group Ltd., was fined N200 million for two accounts allegedly used for crypto transactions.

Reacting to the claims the Chief Executive Officer of Stanbic IBTC, Wole Adeniyi disclosed at an investor conference call in Lagos, said Stanbic IBTC followed the central bank’s orders, but the transactions for which it was sanctioned may have passed through its system undetected.

Adeniyi said the CBN was able to detect the relevant transactions using “advanced capacity” that Nigerian lenders do not have access to, and appealed to the CBN to that such technology be shared with the banking sector so as to help fish out these transactions.

“It doesn’t seem that they are going to entertain a refund, but they are now sharing intelligence with us to be able to kind of deter clients.”