The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has released new guidelines for Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) regarding the deposit of foreign currency notes with the apex bank.
In circular no: COD/DIR/INT/CIR/001/016, issued by the Director of Currency Operations, Mr. Mohammed Solaja, and available on the bank’s website, the CBN directed that DMBs must notify the apex bank in writing of their intention to make such deposits at least three working days in advance.
The guidelines specify that foreign currency deposits can only be made at the CBN branches in Abuja and Lagos. Each bank is allowed a maximum daily deposit of $10 million for USD 100 and USD 50 notes. Smaller denominations, such as $20 notes and below, are capped at a maximum of $1 million daily. British Pound and Euro deposits are limited to GBP 1 million and EUR 1 million per day, respectively, per DMB.
The circular mandates that each denomination must be in separate boxes and requires two representatives from the depositing DMB to be present to witness the counting and confirm the amount. Only CBN-registered Cash-in-Transit (CIT) companies are authorized to represent DMBs during the deposit process.
Deposits are to be made between 8:00 AM and 12:00 PM, and the selected branches must confirm the deposits on the same day. The CBN has set a handling charge of 0.30 percent, which will be debited from the DMBs’ current accounts with the CBN.
The new guidelines supersede the previous circular referenced: COD/DIR/GEN/CMF/11/094, dated June 17, 2017.
