Court Upholds CBN’s Regulation on Collection of Customers’ Social Media Handles
The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has held that a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) regulation, which requires financial institutions to demand and collect the social media handles of their customers, as part of the standard Know-Your-Customer procedure, is not a breach of the right to privacy.....Read The Full Story Here ▶
The judge said in his view, the provision of a social media handle is the same as the provision of email address, phone numbers and other means by which a potential customer of a bank can be contacted and or due diligence, to determine if the person is a fit and proper person for the bank to do business with, and as such, the regulation does not amount to an infringement on the right to privacy.
According to Justice Dimgba, the essence of having a social media account was for one to be publicly visible communication-wise, and it would be highly unreasonable to hold the CBN in breach of privacy for it.
The judge held that “First, the Applicant claims that the requirements on the CBN Regulations for financial institutions to request and collect the social media handle of its customers as part of KYC infringes on his right to privacy.”
“This claim is very ambitious and amounts to a very far throw. The said Regulations are directed to and apply to financial institutions. It does not apply to private individuals such as the Applicant.
Terrorists Using Cryptocurrency Traders to Fund Insecurity — EFCC
The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ola Olukoyede, has revealed that unbeknownst to young cryptocurrency traders in Nigeria, terrorists are using their trade to fund terrorism in the country.
The EFCC boss said some of the people who receive money to trade in cryptocurrencies do not know that their financiers are sponsors of terrorism.
He added that some of the 1,146 bank accounts recently frozen by the anti-graft agency were conduits for terrorism funding.
Olukoyede revealed the development during an event organized by some Civil Society Organizations in Abuja.
The programme, titled, “Multi-stakeholders’ national dialogue on preventing terrorism financing and violent extremism,” was held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotels, Abuja on Wednesday.
Olukoyede revealed, “Some of you are aware of our activities in the area of investigating virtual currency trading and the likes of cryptocurrencies.
“They are potential platforms to fund terrorism. A lot of us don’t understand that. Some of our discoveries during the investigation of some of these platforms were mind-boggling.
“We thought Binance was a major one. Yes, it was. We are prosecuting them. But there are other platforms we have discovered.
“They used some of these young men. Some of them don’t know that the people who gave them money to trade are people who fund terrorism.”
World Bank Blacklists 58 Nigerian Firms, Individuals
The World Bank has taken action against no fewer than 58 Nigerian companies and individuals for their alleged involvement in corrupt practices.
Naija News understands that the strict action is part of the financial institution’s ongoing commitment to maintaining integrity and transparency in its projects and operations.
Reports revealed that out of the affected entities, 39 Nigerian companies were already blacklisted by the African Development Bank (AfDB), while 19 individuals were identified by the World Bank under the cross-debarment policy.
As a result, the total number of debarments has now reached 58, making these entities ineligible to participate in projects and operations funded by the World Bank Group.
The World Bank regularly updates the list, which currently includes a total of 1,210 companies and individuals worldwide.
It is worth noting that debarment prevents these firms and individuals from engaging in projects and operations financed by the World Bank Group.
According to the World Bank report, the sanctions were imposed after an administrative process conducted by the Bank. This process allowed the accused firms and individuals to respond to the allegations, following the Bank’s procedures for sanctions proceedings and settlements in bank-financed projects.