ABUJA, Nigeria — The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has issued a mandate for financial institutions to obtain the social media handles, email addresses, telephone numbers, and residential addresses of customers as part of its new customer due diligence regulations.
This new mandate is contained in the ‘Central Bank of Nigeria (Customer Due Diligence) Regulations, 2023’ document which was published on the CBN’s website on Friday, June 23, 2023.
The CBN said that this regulation is aimed at strengthening the customer identification process within the financial system.
Purpose of the New Regulations:
The new regulations were implemented to provide additional measures for financial institutions to comply with relevant provisions of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act (MLPPA), 2022, Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act (TPPA), 2022, Central Bank of Nigeria (Anti-Money Laundering, Combating the Financing of Terrorism and Countering Proliferation Financing of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Financial Institutions) Regulations, 2022 (CBN AML, CFT and CPF Regulations), and international best practices.
It is also meant to enable the CBN to enforce compliance with customer due diligence measures in accordance with its Anti-Money Laundering, Combating the Financing of Terrorism and Countering Proliferation Financing regulations.
Required Information:
Financial institutions are required to identify their customers, whether permanent or occasional, and natural or legal persons or arrangements, and obtain the following information for individuals:
- Legal name and any other names used (such as maiden name)
- Permanent address (full physical address)
- Residential address (where the customer can be located)
- Telephone number
- Email address
- Social media handle
- Date and place of birth
- Bank Verification number
- Tax Identification number
- Nationality
- Occupation
- Public position held
- Name of employer
- Official personal identification number or unique identifier from an unexpired government-issued document with a photograph and signature, such as a passport, national identification card, residence permit, social security records, or driver’s license
- Type of account and nature of the banking relationship
- Signature
- Politically exposed person status
Furthermore, the CBN has instructed that financial institutions must not establish or keep anonymous accounts, numbered accounts, or accounts in fictitious names.
The new regulations are applicable to all financial institutions under the regulatory purview of the CBN.
