1.2 KiB
CBN-2026-CIR-061 — Mandatory sanctions screening for cross-border retail remittances
Regulator: Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Circular reference: CBN-2026-CIR-061 Jurisdiction: Nigeria Effective date: 2026-05-01 Applies to: All deposit money banks, payment service banks, and international money transfer operators (IMTOs) licensed by the CBN.
Obligation
With effect from the stated effective date, all licensed institutions must perform real-time sanctions screening against the consolidated OFAC, UN, EU and UK sanctions lists for every inbound and outbound cross-border retail remittance exceeding USD 1,000 or naira equivalent. Institutions must retain screening evidence for a minimum of seven (7) years and produce it to the CBN on request within 48 hours.
A match or suspected match must be reported to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) within 24 hours using the standard STR format.
Scope
This obligation applies to the UAE-to-Nigeria and EU-to-Nigeria payment corridors and supersedes the partial screening requirements set out in CBN-2024-CIR-029.
Penalties
Failure to comply attracts a minimum administrative penalty of NGN 50,000,000 per breach, alongside possible suspension of the institution's cross-border remittance licence.