Nigeria banking sector still prone to corruption –Ribadu

He said most of the abuses and financial infractions in banking system occur with the involvement of banks and bankers. The former EFCC boss made these submissions yesterday in Abuja at the launch of a book titled, ‘Improving anti-money laundering compliance:self-protecting theory and money laundering reporting officers’ written by Dr. Abdullahin Usman Bello. “There are many avenues through which such abuses happen. Some individuals use the convenience of the areas that are subject to abuse as private banking offered by commercial banks for money laundering. Some others also use the anonymity offered by electronic banking to conceal suspicious transactions. Yet, some others use cash intensive customers, who are into legitimate businesses as fronts or conduits for money laundering.” The first step to getting it right , he noted, “would mean getting the banks and operators to have an introspective look at some of these things, and resolve to put a stop to it both in public and corporate interest, as well as the individual’s interest.” He harped on risk management which he noted must be strengthened in bank operations. “The risks should also be managed whether high, medium or low- risk profiling through reporting, due diligence and monitoring. There should also be thorough profiling of customers and manual and automated checks when onboarding new customers or reviewing existing customers, to checkmate abuse and potential risks”, he added. He proffered steps to be taken in checking internal financial abuse in banks. “As leadership is the first step in getting it right especially on matters of reforms and integrity, the board and senior management of financial institutions have a huge responsibility in ensuring strict compliance to Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regimes. When it is the board or management staff that bend rules to approve suspicious deals or warehouse illicit funds, the rest of the staff are only being shown how to behave. The top has to therefore be firm for the rest to fall in line” he said. Board and management Ribadu said, “need to cooperate with law enforcement agencies and regulators, not only by the word of mouth but in letter and spirit. There has to be genuine commitment to the fight against money laundering at the highest decision-making body of financial institutions. Those in charge of decision at that level need to look at the wider picture, beyond business and profit.” He said, “There are issues to be determined by public interest and large corporate interests. Whenever your institution is exposed as facilitator of illegitimate transactions, it would have an effect on your corporate image, more so when such a thing leads to court cases.” These processes he said, are possible to adhere to, “to the extent that the financial institution has trained staff that are versed in Anti-Money Laundering (AML) guidelines and laws. The institutions should also ensure that they have adequate systems, both manual and automated, for identifying and reporting suspicious activities.” Once transactions are deemed suspicious, the institution Ribadu said, “has a duty to report such deals to the National Fraud Intelligence Unit (NFIU)- the NFIU will then disseminate intelligence to law enforcement agencies.” Attaining such compliance efficiency he said means that the Financial Institutions should have adequate and appropriate internal control systems, in the first place. Earlier, chairman of the occasion and Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Mr. Godwin Emefiele said there was need for governments and institutions around the world to take the issue of flow of capital and funds seriously. Dirty money he said “are proceeds of crime, and it’s time for governments to take serious action.” Proceeds of crime according to CBN governor, “destroy the fabric of society and country. Leaders must do everything possible to combat crime and corruption particularly money laundering.”]]>