Financial Institutions (FIs) in Nigeria hold deposit accounts and other financial liabilities in their books, which have no customer-induced activity over a prolonged period, thereby rendering such accounts dormant. The continuous maintenance of such accounts has undoubtedly resulted to the accumulation of unclaimed balances at the disposal of FIs, for which the depositors may not be adequately compensated. Further to this, it has been noted that dormant accounts and unclaimed balances are increasingly susceptible to fraudulent transactions or abuse.

In furtherance of the above, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) by a circular dated 6th April 2023 issued an exposure draft, ‘’Guidelines on the Management of Dormant Accounts, Unclaimed Balances and Other Financial Assets in Banks and Other Financial Institutions’’ (the ‘’Guidelines’’).

It is pertinent to note that the Guidelines were issued pursuant to the powers conferred on the CBN Governor, by the CBN Act 2007 and BOFIA 2020 and supersedes the 2015 Guidelines on the Management of Dormant Accounts and Other Unclaimed Balances by Banks and Other Financial Institutions in Nigeria.

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