The Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim
Magu, has called for continuous sensitisation on issues around
Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism
(AML/CFT) reporting to improve transparency in Bureaux De Change’s
operations.
Magu made this call in Lagos during a sensitisation campaign programme
against money laundering and terrorism financing.
He said the EFCC will continue to campaign for financial integrity and
transparency in BDCs’ operations.
The EFCC and the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria
(ABCON) have jointly taken the campaign against money laundering and
terrorism financing to BDC operators at the Murtala Muhammed Airport 2
(MM2), Lagos.
Speaking at the event, ABCON President, Aminu Gwadabe, said the BDC
sector is part of the financial system and is seen as the weakest link
in the financial system.
He appealed to the regulators to approve the group’s request for the
establishment of the institute’s Training Centre and building
capacity of over 4,500 BDC operators for better understanding of the
menace of money laundering and terrorism financing.
Gwadabe, said the anti-money laundering sensitization programme was
intended to familiarize BDC operators with the process of money
laundering – the criminal business used to disguise the true origin
and ownership of illegal cash – and the laws that make it a crime.
Gwadabe said that the programme was also meant to help BDCs maintain
minimum standard of record keeping and increasing level of investors
confidence for the economy.
He said the group will continue to pursue Nigeria’s admission into the
Financial Action Task Force (FATF) due this year.
The FATF is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 by the
Ministers of its Member jurisdictions.
The FATF is therefore a “policy-making body” which works to generate
the necessary political will to bring about national legislative and
regulatory reforms in these areas.
Gwadabe said the sensitization of BDCs and other capacity building for
BDCs will create awareness on the need to check money laundering and
terrorist financing in this period of electioneering; ensure that BDCs
are not used to launder funds by Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs).
It will also upscale BDCs’ compliance with the Anti-Money Laundering
and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) for Banks and Other
Financial Institutions in Nigeria Regulations, 2013.
Other stakeholders at the event also spoke on the use of BDCs for
illicit political transactions, illegal border cash evacuation,
reporting of suspicious transactions, fraud accounts transactions and
cash dollar deposits on domiciliary accounts.
