Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed banks to publish names of customers who try to break the rules on Forex acquisition on their website.
The CBN on monday in a circular to the banks, lamented that it has received and noted with concern reports of sharp practices by some customers to circumvent the new CBN policy on the sale of forex for overseas personal and business travel.
Some of the unwholesome practices, the apex says “include the use of fake visas and cancellation of air tickets after purchase of Personal Travel Allowance (PTA) and Business Travel Allowance (BTA)
Similarly, the Director Banking Supervision Department of the CBN, Alhaji Haruna B. Mustafa who signed the circular, noted that this trend, if not curbed, there would be portends risk to the integrity and stability of the forex market.
To curb this threat, he ordered banks to publish on their websites the names and Bank Verification Number BVN of defaulting customers who present fake travel documents or cancel their tickets and fail to return the purchased PTA/BTA within 2 weeks as stipulated in the customer declaration form signed by them.
“Prior to this order, most banks had written to the customers of their commitment to provide them with foreign exchange for their PBT as well as payment for overseas Education, Medical and other eligible invisible transactions”, alhaji Haruna Explained
The rules that customers have to follow before they can access forex the bank said are: FX shall be sold for Legitimate Travel Purpose Only.
Bank customers are required to provide a valid Nigerian passport and a valid visa to an international destination.
Only valid travel documents like tickets to an international destination outside of West Africa and Cameroon will be accepted.
The international return ticket must have a travel date not more than 14 days from the date of PTA/BTA purchase.
The Director said.