Nigerian judge rules in favor of accused crypto startup, accounts must be reopened – Bitcoin News settlement

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A judge at the Federal Court of Nigeria recently ruled that the two frozen bank accounts belonging to Rise Vest Technologies, which is accused of trading cryptocurrency, must be reopened.

CBN’s bank account freezing order rejected

In a ruling overturning the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) August 17 decision to freeze bank accounts, Judge Taiwo Taiwo is cited by The Nation as insisting that the central bank could not simply rely on a simple circular to decide to close an Account.

In addition, the media quotes the judge explaining in his ruling that the February 6 directive from the CBN to banks is, in fact, not the law. Justice Taiwo notes in his ruling that the CBN failed to provide the court with relevant sections of the law that prove that trading in cryptocurrency is indeed illegal.

“I have read the Respondent’s Counter Affidavit and see that the reason for freezing the Applicant’s account is based on the alleged breach of the CBN Circular. The law is trite that any conduct that is to be sanctioned must be expressly spelled out in written law, ”Justice Taiwo said.

Central bank circulars are not laws

The judge says that since such circulars are unknown to the law, the CBN cannot therefore use them as a basis for sanctioning stray companies.

Meanwhile, the same report also quotes Justice Taiwo questioning the CBN’s inclusion of public policy considerations in its submissions against Rise Vest Technologies’ claim.

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