The Central Bank of Nigeria has backed its earlier instruction to banks to freeze the bank accounts of Nigerian fintech platforms Risevest, Bamboo, Trove and Chaka for the next six months through a court order. The apex bank got an ex-parte motion from the Federal High Court in Abuja which sought temporary freezing of bank accounts belonging to these online investments and trading platforms where Nigerians are transacting business online. The motion according to sources at the Central Bank aims to give the bank ample time to probe the financial activities of these four fintech companies in Nigeria.
It could be recalled that the central bank alleged that some investment platforms are being used to carry out activities outside their areas of authorization naming Rise Vest Technologies Limited, Bamboo Systems Technology Limited, Chaka Technologies Limited and Trove Technologies Limited as complicit in operating without license as asset management companies “and utilizing FX sourced from the Nigerian FX market for purchasing foreign bonds/shares in contravention of the CBN circular referenced TED/FEM/FPC/GEN/01/012, dated July 01, 2015.”
The Bank through its lawyers told the court that the foreign exchange deals done with the defendants were making the Naira weaker to the United States dollars, hence, the need to block 15 of their accounts for about 180 days.
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The bank added that all four companies affected by this action have gotten licenses from Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to operate as digital platforms for buying and selling stocks but that they have deviated from that and veered into areas they were not authorized to engage in. An act the apex bank regards as contravention of its financial regulations.
Responding to the development, Risevest’s CEO Eke Eleanya Urum and Bamboo have come out on Twitter (that’s banned) to assure users of Risevest that trading activities will continue as usual and the issue will be sorted out with the regulators.
In a tweet, he said “Hey guys, in respect to the most recent news regarding @Risevest and our FX dealings, rest assured all user investments and funds are safely managed, funding and withdrawals will continue to be processed as normal and all our US operations are intact”.— Indaboski of Investing 
(@eldivyn) August 17, 2021
“Hi everyone, we’re aware of the recent reports about us. Our legal and government relations teams are looking into it but we thought it was important to let you know that your money remains safe with Bamboo and will always be readily accessible”— Bamboo (@investbamboo) August 17, 2021
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So far none of the affected companies has come out to refute this claim. This action comes on the back of the recent move by the CBN to stop the sale of foreign exchange (FX) to Bureau De Change (BDC) operators in the country, and a restriction on these platforms for not being duly registered in April.
According to a source from one of the affected companies, they lost a lot of users and deposits after the April announcement. It took a lot of explaining and convincing to get users to trust that their money was safe and the activities of the fintech platform is legal. This recent announcement would cause massive reputational damage
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry