KEY POINTS

• The Central Bank of Nigeria commands financial institutions to issue yearly reports containing dormant accounts and unclaimed balance information.
• All records regarding unclaimed balances must be posted in two national newspapers and on banking websites.
• The Directive complies with both NDPA and BOFIA regulations to establish better transparency measures.

The Central Bank of Nigeria through its directive has mandated banks and financial institutions to distribute listings of their dormant accounts together with unclaimed balances as part of their compliance with CBN guidelines for managing dormant accounts.

The financial institutions must present their data release once a year through annual disclosures

The Central Bank of Nigeria sent a circular on February 17, 2024 which ordered financial institutions to publish dormant account names through two national newspapers in every year and show this information on their websites.

Financial institutions not having websites must publish such information through their associations’ websites.

The published details must include:
– Account name
– Account type
Secondly the information lists the specific bank branch where the account holder has their account.

Account information disclosure poses no violation to the Nigerian Data Protection Act (NDPA) according to the new guidelines. According to the CBN the required deviation came from Section 25(b) of the NDPA while Section 72(ii) of the BOFIA provided additional authorization.

The transparency drive for unclaimed funds incorporates provisions to address their management

This policy works to increase financial sector openness and establish accurate management of lost funds. Public confidence in the banking system will increase through this necessary step which follows existing legal frameworks according to the CBN.