The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has sounded the alert on a new form of money laundering which must be checked now to save the country from international sanctions.
Speaking yesterday in Abuja at the 2nd Anti-Money Laundering/Combating Financial Terrorism Stakeholders Consultative Workshop organised by the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (ACAMS), the Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability of the (CBN), Dr Okwu Nnanna warned that to curb money laundering in Nigeria, virtual currencies must be regulated.
He described virtual currency as a type of unregulated, digital money, which is issued and usually controlled by its developers, and is used and accepted among members of a specific community.
Nnanna lamented that “virtual currency was dangerous because it was not a legal tender of any country hence it has a borderless nature without jurisdiction which makes it a channel for money laundering.”
Nnanna, who was represented by the Deputy Director in charge of the Financial Policy and Regulation Department of the CBN, Obot Akpan “Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has observed that virtual currency payment products and services (VCPPS) present opportunity for money laundering and other crime risk that must be identified and mitigated. Virtual currencies presents a wide range of issues and challenges that require financial authorities to consider and the challenges posed are unique and call for urgent regulator responses.”
