CBN Makes Another Move to Monitor Forex as Naira Crashes in Parallel Market

CBN Makes Another Move to Monitor Forex as Naira Crashes in Parallel Market

  • UK's ambassador said Nigeria is working with the CBN and the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) to keep an eye on illicit inflows
  • During a policy discussion, the ambassador asserted that beneficial ownership records have been helpful in tracking down illicit inflows
  • According to the Global Financial Secrecy Index, the UK's financial industry has continuously placed in the top 15 nations

Dr. Richard Montgomery, the UK's ambassador, stated that the UK is collaborating with the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to monitor illegal inflows.

Naira Crashes in Parallel Market
UK ambassador said the country is not blameless in illicit inflows movement. Photo Credit: CBN
Source: Getty Images

The ambassador claimed that beneficial ownership registers have been useful in tracing illegal inflows at a policy discussion on the state of anti-corruption policy and practice in Nigeria by Agora Policy yesterday in Abuja.

On the functionality of beneficial ownership, the envoy explained,

“With beneficial ownership, you know who controls a company. We need to know this so that the regulatory agencies and law enforcement agencies can do their jobs. There is more to do on this issue, but the progress here has been significant. Nigeria has the potential to be a real leader on the continent on this issue of beneficial company ownership.”

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Montgomery said that the UK is not blameless in illicit inflows movement, saying,

“We accept in the UK that we are not blameless. The UK’s financial sector has consistently ranked in the top 15 countries for the Global Financial Secrecy Index. So, this implies that we are enabling a permissive environment for illicit financial flows.
“It implies we are undermining the integrity of our markets. And we need to do more to address the financial vulnerabilities in our systems in the UK, as well as in other countries.”He noted that evidence needs to be credible to go through the courts in cases of illicit inflows.

This occured after the Naira first strengthened versus the dollar and then declined. The naira-to-dollar exchange rate dropped to about N1,745/$1 on the black market on wednesday.

Charles Abuede, a financial analyst advised on how to the naira can maintain its balance agaist foreign currencies.

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"If Nigeria can address insecurity and terrorism concerns, oil theft and pipeline vandalism, we can begin to see an increase in our crude oil production to above 2mbpd or even close to 2.5mbpd to aid the increase in fx receipt."

Nigerians Pay N68 Billion to UK Office

Legit.ng reported that the British government processed about 225,000 Nigerians' applications for UK visas between June 2023 and June 2024.

This news was made this week during the launch of Africa's largest UK visa application facility by Marc Owen, Director of Visa, Status, and Information Services at UK Visas and Immigration, British High Commission in Lagos.

The various visa types and related expenses were not thoroughly examined.

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Source: Legit.ng

Authors:
Zainab Iwayemi avatar

Zainab Iwayemi (Business Editor) Zainab Iwayemi is a business journalist with over 5 years experience reporting activities in the stock market, tech, insurance, banking, and oil and gas sectors. She holds a Bachelor of Science (B.sc) degree in Sociology from the University of Ilorin, Kwara State. Before Legit.ng, she worked as a financial analyst at Nairametrics where she was rewarded for outstanding performance. She can be reached via zainab.iwayemi@corp.legit.ng