CBN reaffirms 35 legal IMTOs for operation from Wednesday
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has reaffirmed 35 International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) to remit money to Nigeria on behalf of Nigerians in the Diaspora.
The apex bank in a statement issued and signed by, Ag. Director, Corporate Communications Mr. Isaac Okorafor on Tuesday stated that from November 9, 2016, the 35 IMTOs which include Aftab Currency Exchange Limited; Capermit UK Limited; Aws Malta Limited; Cashpot Limited; Centrecard Limited; MoneyGram; Western Union; Centrexcard Limited; Colony Capital Limited; CP Express Limited; Daytona Capital Management Limited and DT&T Corporation Limited among others will commence operations.
CBN said in the statement that its attention has been drawn to the increasing patronage of Illegal Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) by Nigerians in the Diaspora for the purpose of home remittances.
The apex bank stressed that the unscrupulous operators, have being luring unsuspecting customers with ridiculous exchange rate, by using Naira accounts opened in local banks ostensibly for legal business to pay out the proceeds to the beneficiaries while channelling the foreign currencies to fund the parallel market
The apex bank also noted that the practice has led to non-reporting of such transactions to relevant authorities thereby undermining effective surveillance of the sector as well as leading to discrepancies in statistics on the transactions between countries of origin of remittance and the destination country, Nigeria.
Against this background, the apex bank therefore advised Nigerians in the Diaspora not to patronize unlicensed International Money Transfer Operators, as they stand the risk of losing their hard-earned money.
Similarly, Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) are also enjoined to ensure painstaking conduct of “Know Your Customers’ Business” (KYB) in order to prevent the use of accounts for illegal transactions and avoid regulatory sanctions.
”Such accounts, when discovered, will be blocked and the operators handed over to appropriate law enforcement agencies for prosecution”, it sated.
Other companies on the lists are Etransact Limited; Fiem Group LLC DBA Ping Express; First Apple Inc.; First Transfer Inc.; Foren Money Limited; Funtech Global Communications Limited; GDM Transfer Pty Limited and Homesend S.C.R.L.
Others are IDT Payment Services Inc.; Nouveau Mobile Limited; Pagatech Limited; Refitok International Limited; Ria Financial; Sanaa Capital Llc (Money4 Diaspora Services Llc); Small World Financial Services Group Limited; Tcf Limited; Trans-Fast Remittance Llc; UAE Exchange Centre Llc; Venture Garden Nigeria; Vtnetwork Limited; Wari Limited; Weblink International Limited; Wi-Pay Global LLC and Worldremit Limited.
