The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has raised alert over a new form of money laundering which must be checked now to save the country from international sanctions, The Nation reports.
On August 19, at the 2nd Anti-Money Laundering/Combating Financial Terrorism Stakeholders Consultative Workshop in Abuja, Okwu Nna, the deputy governor of the CBN Financial System Stability, stated for money laundering to be curbed in Nigeria, virtual currencies must be regulated.
Nna described virtual currency as a type of unregulated, digital money, which is issued and usually controlled by its developers, and accepted among members of a specific community.
He said:
“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.”
On his part, Obot Akpan, the deputy director of the Financial Policy and Regulation Department of the CBN, stated: “Ficial 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.”