The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr. Ola Olukoyede has charged Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professionals, DNFBPs to strictly comply with the provisions of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, do due diligence on their customers and ensure that they report suspicious transactions, especially of Politically Exposed Persons, PEPs to the Commission.
He gave the charge at a one-day workshop for sensitization of DNFBPs, with the theme: “Awareness to Action: Mobilizing DNFBPs for Compliance”, which was held in Lagos, on Thursday, February 27, 2025.
The workshop, which was organized by the South-West region of the Special Control Unit against Money Laundering, SCUML, which is the Anti-Money Laundering Department of the EFCC, had in attendance professionals from various DNFBPs across the region.
Declaring the workshop open, the acting Zonal Director, Lagos Zonal Directorate, ACE I Michael Wetkas, stressed the need for the DNFBPs to strictly comply with the stipulated rules guiding their operations, as a way of contributing their quota to the fight against money laundering, and engendering economic growth and development.
“As professionals in the DNFBP sector of the economy, you are critical stakeholders in the fight against economic and financial crimes. Nigeria belongs to all of us, so you need to play your role diligently without fear or favour, because what you do in your own corner will have a multiplier impact on the country,” he said.
Also speaking, Director of SCMUL, Commander of EFCC, CE Daniel Isei, noted that the awareness campaign was part of the concerted efforts of the Commission to get Nigeria off the Financial Action Task Force, FATF’s Grey List.
“As you may be aware, Nigeria was added to the FATF Grey list in February 2023 after a 2021 Mutual Evaluation Report identified critical gaps in our financial crime prevention measures,” he said.
The grey list, he explained, included jurisdictions under increased monitoring due to deficiencies in their AML/CFT regimes. According to him, while substantial strides have been made under an action plan, jointly developed with FATF’s International Cooperation Review Group, ICRG, there was still more work to be done, particularly as it relates to the DNFBPs.
He said: “Nigeria needs to come out of the Grey List and one of the deficiencies found is that compliance is very low. In order to exit the Grey List by May 2025, some outstanding actions need to be addressed urgently to demonstrate our effectiveness, such as applying effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions for breaches of AML/CFT requirements and following up to ensure remedial actions are taken by sanctioned entities. Enhance preventive measures through inspections, outreach and provision of guidance for higher-risk sectors.”
He urged participants to ensure that they complied with their obligations under the Nigerian AML/CFT regime.
In a paper titled, “Application of KYC/CDD measures (PEP Reporting) to prevent ML/TF risk for DNFBP”, the Head, SCUML, Lagos, ACEI Ibinabo Amachree, stressed the importance of the Know Your Customer, KYC obligation of DNFBPs.
“You must ensure that you carry out due diligence in knowing your customer, and ensuring proper documentation to ascertain relevant information from your prospective customers before doing business with them, and this is a continuous activity,” she said, stressing that failure to do so will mean running afoul of the law, and ignorance was not a defence in law,”
Head, SCUML, Ibadan, ACE I Toyin Ehindero, noted that the South-West region was seen as a critical stakeholder in achieving the goals of the Commission.
Further highlights on targeted financial sanctions were provided by ACE II Folashade Oluwasanya, a resource person from SCUML, who emphasized the roles of the DNFBPs in combating money laundering and terrorist financing.
“The importance of vigilance in identifying suspicious activities and legal obligations of DNFBPs in reporting such transactions to relevant authorities cannot be overemphasized,” she said.
On his part, ACE II Bassey Okon, gave a detailed analysis on the administrative sanctions that can be imposed on DNFBPs for non-compliance with regulatory requirements.
He further underscored the potential repercussions of failing to adhere to financial regulations, and the importance of maintaining robust compliance frameworks.
The workshop was in furtherance of the goal of the Commission to ensure the removal of Nigeria from the FATF Grey List and ensuring compliance with extant laws by DNFBPs, particularly in the South-West region.
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