NFIU to start delisting dormant companies from September

The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU, has announced that it would start delisting dormant or shell companies from the month of September this year.

Shell companies those that are not active or registered for future purposes.

The Director of NFIU, Modibbo Tukur, also announced on Thursday that the unit would publish the criteria for companies to keep their registration status.

This, he said, would rid the system of shell companies that could potentially be used for fraud, adding that for companies to exist, they should have physical addresses.

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Tukur stated: “If anyone establishes a company, it has to be a company indeed and we have to be firm on this. This has become more important now given the rollout of the Economic Community of West Africa States, ECOWAS, single currency because, with that, we know that capital and investments will move across borders and it is a single currency.

“So, we have to step up regulation to avoid fraudulent transactions. We will begin by September and some companies will have to be deregistered if they do not meet the criteria.

“We will publish the parameters and also give them enough time to regularise after which those that do not comply before the deadline will be shut down. If you have an empty company hanging in the system, it is a potential danger and we should not allow it to thrive.”

It would be recalled that NFIU and Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, had signed a memorandum of understanding Wednesday to combat Ponzi schemes and fraud in the capital market.

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