The Central Bank of Nigeria has instructed all banks, payment service banks, and other regulated financial institutions to immediately withdraw any advertisement or promotional material that does not comply with established consumer-protection and fair-marketing standards.
This directive, contained in a circular issued on Thursday and signed by Olubunmi Ayodele-Oni on behalf of the Director of the CBN’s Compliance Department, follows a thematic industry review that revealed widespread inconsistencies in how institutions interpret disclosure, transparency, and fair-marketing obligations under the Consumer Protection Regulations 2019 and the 2000 Guidelines on Advertisements by Deposit-Taking Financial Institutions.
According to the apex bank, the review showed that many institutions continue to publish adverts that exaggerate benefits, omit key information, obscure risks, or rely on unaudited financial statements.