2019: Heavy punishment awaits banks, politicians caught in money-laundering deals – CBN


Ahead of the 2019 general elections, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued a stern warning to Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) stressing that heavy punishment awaits any financial institution that violate the money laundering Act.

Banks that violate the money laundering Act in the guise of handling money for politicians the CBN warned, risk very stiff penalty. CBN governor Mr. Godwin Emefiele gave warning on Thursday at the end of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja.

Emefiele said the CBN’s directive was handed down to the DMBs Chief Executives at a recent meeting to intimate them of the dangers they may be exposed to as a result of the activities of politicians.

According to Emefiele, “On the 2019 elections, we had a meeting with the banks. We advised them to be very careful of money laundry issues. If they are caught, they will be heavily penalized. But banks have their rules and criteria; I don’t think banks will do anything that will violate the rules. When they go wrong, we will deal with them.”

On lending to politicians, he said, “of course, when you say banks lending to politicians, banks have their acceptance criteria and I don’t think that the banks will do that at this time. Everybody must have learnt their lessons and I believe that the right thing for everybody is to conduct their businesses carefully. But we as central bank, we are staying behind and watching to make sure that when things go wrong or about to go wrong we will deal with it appropriately.”

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