eNaira gets regulatory guidelines – CBN

6th October 2021 Raphael 0

Regulatory guidelines – Following the supposed official launch of the CBDC, the apex bank has released regulatory guidelines to guard against misuse and abuse of the eNaira.

A document surfaced recently as released by the apex bank titled “Regulatory guidelines on the eNaira.”

It was said that the guideline shall apply to all financial institutions and end users of the eNaira.

However, during the onboarding process users are availed options which include to disclose whether the eNaira wallet being created will be operated for self or as trustees.

The document in part reads,

“The Central Bank of Nigeria, under the CBN act 2007 and the Banks and other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020, is empowered to issue legal tender currency, ensure financial system and promote the development of electronic payments system.

The Bank, in furtherance of its mandate, hereby issues the following guidelines for the operation of the eNaira.

“The eNaira is the digital form of the Naira, issued by the CBN in line with section 19 of the CBN Act. It’s a direct liability of the bank, a legal tender and will form part of the currency in circulation and will be at par with the physical Naira.

“The eNaira shall complement traditional Naira as a less costly, more efficient, generally acceptable, safe and trusted means of payment. In addition, it will improve monetary policy effectiveness, enhance the government’s capacity to deploy targeted social interventions and boost remittances through formal channels.

“The eNaira wallet is required to access, use and hold eNaira. The eNaira will be exchangeable for other Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC).”

Keynotes and highlights of the released regulatory guideline as read

  • The eNaira shall be controlled and administered by the CBN through the Digital Currency Management System to mint and issue eNaira
  • Financial institutions shall maintain a treasury eNaira wallet for holding and managing eNaira on the DCMS.
  • The Financial Institution (FI) Suite is the primary application used by the FIs to manage their digital currency holdings, requests, and redemption with the CBN.
  • The eNaira stock wallet belongs solely to the CBN and it shall warehouse all minted eNaira.
  • The two-factor authentication and other measures shall be adopted to ensure the security of the eNaira wallet.
  • The charges for eNaira transactions shall be in line with Guide to charges by Banks, Other Financial and Non-bank Financial Institutions.
  • Financial Institutions are required to comply with the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011 as amended, the Terrorism prevention Act 2011 as amended, and all subsisting anti-money laundering laws and regulations as may be issued by the CBN from time to time.
  • Consumer complaints in relation to the usage of the eNaira shall be referred to Helpdesk of users’ preferred FI Helpdesk, it shall be escalated to the eNaira Helpdesk via 0800myenaira (0800 6936 2472) or [email protected] for resolution.

Leave a comment