Money Laundering: CISLAC Asks CBN To Improve Oversight Of Banks

By Ayodele Oluwafemi

Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) has urged the Central Bank of Nigerian (CBN) to improve its financial and regulatory oversight in order to combat money laundering and corruption through banks.

CISLAC stated this in a communiqué issued at the end of its 3rd anti-money laundering conference titled “Exploring New Frontiers in Nigeria’s Anti-Money Laundering Regime Through Effective Use of Data”, on February 12 -13, in Abuja.

The group noted that money laundering Impedes the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals and other socio-economics targets in Nigeria, while calling on financial stakeholders and anti-graft agencies to provide necessary measures to tackle money laundering.

CISLAC also urged African Anti-Corruption Agencies (ACAs) to deploy digital technologies to detect the techniques used for money laundering.

The group, highlighted the following as points of recommendations;

“There should be improved national cooperation and coordination among both state and non-state actors in fighting anti-money laundering;

“The National Assembly shall prioritize the passage of all pending bills that will catalyze the anti-money laundering campaign especially the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA). The President should expatiate the enactment of this crucial legislation without delays;

“The Central Bank of Nigeria must improve its financial and regulatory oversight in combating money laundering and corruption through banks;

“The conversion of usable information into credible intelligence should be improved by the anticorruption agencies. The rate of investigations, convictions and asset confiscation on credible AML evidence must be improved and made public;

“The chain of the Criminal Justice system (detection, investigation, prosecution and conviction) should be improved upon by relevant agencies, especially the Economic Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Nigeria Police Force/ Interpol and Defence Intelligence;

“We are calling on the Presidency to assent to the amended Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) legislation to facilitate establishment of a beneficial Ownership register accessible to the public by the Corporate Affairs Commission;

“Declaration of assets owned by senior officials and Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) as required by the Code of Conduct Act must be enhanced, data made public and suspicious wealth investigated by the law enforcement;

“There should be promotion of transparency and the involvement of civil society groups and citizens’ participation in the utilization and management of confiscated and seized assets;

“The National Assembly must assert greater supervision and control over the financial institutions and their oversight institutions including the anti-corruption agencies to investigate and to reduce the volume of illicit financial flows and their damage to the national development.”

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