CBN Slates August 1 To Commence Enforcement of Credit Risk System In OFIs

The Central Bank of Nigeria has slated August 1 to enforce Other Financial Institutions (OFIs) enrollment in the Credit Risk Management System (CRMS).

This was contained in a circular published on its website and signed by the director of the financial policy and regulation department, Chibuzo Efobi.

OFIs include development finance institutions (DFIs), microfinance banks, (MFBs), primary mortgage banks (PMBs), and finance companies (FCs).

“All OFls are hereby informed that the provisions of the regulatory guidelines for the redesigned credit risk management system for the commercial, merchant, and non-interest banks in Nigeria issued on February 27, 2017 (Ref No. FPR/DIR/GEN/CRM/06/012) and the additional regulatory guidelines for the operation of the redesigned CRMS issued on September 10, 2018 (Ref No. FPR/DIR/GEN/CIR/07/007) have become applicable to all OFls,” the circular reads.

“Accordingly, and more specifically, enforcement of Section 3.1(a) of the extant guidelines on CRMS that captures the ‘submit before disbursement’ requirement shall commence on August 1, 2022.”

Section 3.1(a) of the regulatory guidelines for the operation of CRMS states that “rendition on the CRMS is required before the disbursement of any loan or credit facility.

“This process of submission does not interfere with any participating bank’s decision to extend a loan or credit to its customer. Consequently, rendition is only required after approval to disburse is given.”

The apex bank also reminded OFIs to ensure that all their customer accounts comply with the 10-digit Nigeria uniform bank account number (NUBAN) format, and are tagged with bank verification number (BVN) or tax identification number (TIN) for individual and non-individual accounts respectively of the account holder and profiled on the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System’s (NIBSS) industry customer accounts database (CAD) not later than June 20, 2022.

“These remain prerequisites for enrolment onto the CRMS,” CBN said.

CBN further warned that failure to comply with the stipulated timelines would attract appropriate sanctions.