By Emma Ujah, Abuja Bureau Chief

The Central Bank of Nigeria , CBN, has given all banks in the country a December 31, 2010 deadline to  update their Know-Your-Customer , KYC, information

CBN’s Deputy Governor ,DG,  in charge of Financial System Stability, FSS, Dr. Kingsley Moghalu, said at a joint briefing with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit ,   NFIU,  the United Nations, in Abuja, that  customers who failed to update their information would be barred from operating their accounts at the expiration of the deadline.

He explained that the the move was to further check money laundering and terrorism financing in the country. His words, “the CBN is aware that Customer Due Diligence, CDD, which involves KYC compliance, is accepted worldwide as a veritable tool towards the fight against money laundering and terrorism financing.

“The fight against money laundering and other vices such as financing of terrorist activities is a global one;  Nigeria can therefore not afford to be left behind, “ he said.

Dr. Moghalu noted that Nigeria was placed under list of countries targeted for close monitoring by the Financial Action Task Force , FATF, in February this year due to the country’s poor Customer Due Diligence by Nigerian banks.

According to him, a one_month sensitisation period lasting December 1 through December 31, 2010 would be used to mount a wide campaign to educate all bank customers and to persuade them to update their personal data with all their banks.

The DG stated that banks have been experiencing a lot of challenges in their quest to obtain the necessary KYC information from their customers as required by regulators, adding, “customers are reluctant to supply the requested information primarily because they are not aware of its importance.