Court Reverses CBN on Frozen Risevest Accounts
By Bashiru Olanrewaju
A federal high court in Abuja overuled a Central Bank of Nigeria decision to freeze the accounts of Risevest Technologies and other companies offering dollar investments in international stocks, bonds and real estate.
Contrary to CBN’s arguments, the Court ruled on Monday that Risevest will have “unfettered access” to its bank accounts, the company said in a statement.
The regulator had in August obtained an interim court order to freeze the accounts of several fintech companies it accused of foreign-exchange infractions.
The companies included Risevest Technologies Limited, Bamboo Systems Technology Limited, Chaka Technologies Limited, CTL/Business Expenses and Trove Technologies Limited according to a ruling by Justice Ahmed Mohammed of the Federal High Court in Abuja seen by Nairaweb.ng.
The CBN accused the companies of using funds “sourced from the Nigerian foreign-exchange market for purchasing foreign bonds/shares in contravention of” existing regulations. Specifically, the CBN referenced a circular it issued on July 1, 2015.
The Court voided the interim order in its ruling, insisting that the CBN circular doesn’t carry the force of law.
“We have been engaging with CBN to make sure that all the issues raised in the initial announcement and all relevant issues around our business are properly resolved and that we continue to do our work in a safe, compliant and beneficial way,” Risevest said in its statement. “We’ll continue to work with them and all regulators to ensure that our operations stay on the right side of the law. “