The Nigerian House of Representatives’ Committee on Financial Crimes has issued a final warning to Binance due to concerns over terrorism financing and money laundering. The committee chairman has officially summoned Binance’s current CEO, Richard Teng, demanding his attendance at the hearing to be held by the committee on March 4th. Failure to comply will result in necessary legal action.
(Previous Summary:
Binance in Nigeria: The call to return $10 billion! Nigeria accuses Binance of manipulating exchange rates, causing a 70% devaluation of the Naira and a severe economic setback.
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(Background:
Nigeria bans Binance, Coinbase, and other cryptocurrency exchanges: Intent to manipulate Naira exchange rates and exploit illegal money laundering loopholes.
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Table of Contents:
Nigerian Parliament warns Binance of legal action if it ignores the summons
Ban on major exchanges including Binance and Coinbase
Nigeria reportedly demanding $10 billion fine from Binance
Nigeria has taken further action in its allegations against Binance. According to local media outlet “The Punch,” the Nigerian House of Representatives’ Committee on Financial Crimes has summoned Binance’s current CEO, Richard Teng, on the grounds of alleged terrorism financing and money laundering. The committee has requested his attendance at the relevant hearing to be held before March 4th, 2024.
Committee Chairman Ginger Onwusibe has warned that if Binance disregards the committee’s summons, the committee will be forced to exercise its constitutional powers and take “appropriate measures.” He also condemned Binance for repeatedly refusing to attend hearings in the country. It is understood that the committee sent a summons to Binance’s Managing Director to attend a hearing held on December 18th, following a letter sent on December 12th. However, senior Binance officials did not ultimately participate.
Onwusibe firmly stated:
Last month, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, publicly expressed the bank’s concern that illegal funds are circulating through numerous cryptocurrency trading platforms. He specifically mentioned Binance, stating that there were up to $26 billion in untraceable funds flowing through Binance’s Nigerian platforms in just one year.
In fact, since assuming office in May last year, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has abolished the fixed exchange rate system. Over the past eight months, the Naira has depreciated significantly twice in an attempt to attract foreign investment and revive the economy. However, this has led many people to turn to cryptocurrency exchanges to trade at unofficial Naira prices, as the Naira has greatly depreciated against foreign currencies and inflation rates have soared to nearly a 30-year high.
In February, Bayo Onanuga, a special adviser to the Nigerian president, accused Binance of “manipulating exchange rates” and acting as a rate setter. He urged relevant authorities to take action, leading the Nigerian Communications Commission to instruct telecom companies to block several major exchanges, including Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken, on February 21st.
Subsequently, it was even reported that senior Binance executives were detained by the Nigerian Office of National Security Adviser and had their passports confiscated upon their arrival in Nigeria after the blocking incident. As a result, Binance temporarily suspended trading pairs such as Bitcoin/Naira and USDT/Naira.
Further reading:
Nigeria bans Binance, Coinbase, and other cryptocurrency exchanges: Intent to manipulate Naira exchange rates and exploit illegal money laundering loopholes.
Last week, Bayo Onanuga, a presidential adviser, revealed in an interview with the BBC that the Nigerian government is demanding at least $10 billion in compensation from Binance to offset economic losses. However, Onanuga later clarified to other foreign media outlets that he never stated to the BBC that Binance had been informed by the Nigerian government to pay a fine, nor did he mention a confirmed fine amount of $10 billion. He only mentioned the possibility of imposing a fine on Binance for the incident, and everything is still uncertain at the moment.
Binance executives responded by stating that they have discussed solutions with the Nigerian government but have not been informed of the need to pay a $10 billion fine.
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