Banks Directed to Transfer Dormant Account Funds to CBN

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has mandated all banks and financial institutions to transfer funds from dormant accounts to the apex bank. A circular issued by Mr. John Onoja, CBN’s Acting Director of Financial Policy and Regulations, targets accounts that have been inactive for 10 years or more.

These guidelines apply to all financial institutions regulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria. The CBN outlined the objectives: to identify dormant accounts and unclaimed balances, reunite them with their rightful owners, manage dormant accounts and unclaimed balances uniformly, and establish a standard procedure for reclaiming these funds.

Eligible accounts are those that have remained dormant for ten years and beyond. Eligible dormant accounts and unclaimed balances include current, savings, and term deposits in local currency; domiciliary accounts; deposits for purchasing shares and mutual investments; prepaid card accounts and wallets; government-owned accounts; proceeds of uncleared and unpresented financial instruments; unclaimed salaries, wages, commissions, and bonuses; stale local and foreign currency drafts; funds received from correspondent banks without sufficient beneficiary details; and judgment debts unclaimed by creditors.

Certain dormant accounts and financial assets are exempt from this directive: accounts subject to litigation, active judgment debt cases, accounts under regulatory or law enforcement investigation, and encumbered accounts such as those used as collateral.