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A response letter on the alleged unauthorised remittance of foreign exchange on behalf of MTN has been forwarded to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) by the management of Citi Bank.
However, the management of Citi Bank in a statement issued on Wednesday was silent on the content of the letter.
The statement said: “Citibank Nigeria Limited (Citi) recently received a letter from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) imposing sanctions on Citi for alleged breaches of foreign exchange regulations in respect of foreign exchange remittances done on behalf of a customer, MTN Nigeria Communications Limited.
“Citibank Nigeria Limited has sent a detailed response to the CBN addressing the serious allegations made in the CBN letter.
“Citibank Nigeria Limited remains committed to complying with all extant foreign exchange rules and regulations of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.
The CBN recently imposed sanctions totaling N5.87 billion on four banks under its regulatory purview and asked same to refund the sum of $8,134,312,397.63 for what it described as ‘flagrant violation of extant laws and regulations of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, including the Foreign Exchange (Monitoring and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1995 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Foreign Exchange Manual, 2006’.
The four banks that have come under the sledge hammer of the CBN for the violations are Standard Chartered Bank, Stanbic-IBTC, Citibank, and Diamond Bank.
Announcing the decision in Abuja on Wednesday, August 29, 2018, CBN’s Director, Corporate Communications, Isaac Okorafor, said that the actions of the Bank became necessary following allegations of remittance of foreign exchange with irregular Certificates of Capital Importation (CCIs) issued on behalf of some offshore investors of MTN Nigeria Communications Limited and subsequent investigations carried out by the apex bank in March 2018. The CBN has therefore asked the Managements of the banks and MTN Nigeria Communications Limited to immediately refund the sum of $8,134,312,397.63, illegally repatriated by the company to the coffers of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
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