Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday rolled out a stronger supervisory framework that seeks to deter the use of Nigerian banks and financial institutions for terrorism financing and other abuses
In a statement, the apex bank’s Acting Director, Corporate Communications/Investor Relations Department, Hakama Sidi-Ali, said the CBN has made terrorism financing supervision one of its current priorities.
According to her, the focus is part of the bank’s ongoing commitment to protecting the Nigerian financial system from abuse by illicit actors.
She explained that this new push covers four broad areas including how financial institutions manage terrorism financing risk, how they monitor transactions for signs of terrorism financing, how they carry out targeted financial sanctions, and how they report suspicious transactions linked to terrorism.
She said the apex bank would not be sitting back and waiting for problems to surface on their own, rather it plans to use a risk-based approach, which means banks and institutions seen as more exposed to this kind of risk will attract closer attention.
Sidi-Ali said: “This supervisory focus also supports Nigeria’s ongoing domestic and international cooperation on counter-terrorism financing, counter-proliferation financing, financial integrity, and the protection of the financial system. Further supervisory engagement will be undertaken as appropriate.”
According to her, the bank will continue to apply a risk-based supervisory approach, including on-site and off-site engagement, to support effective Anti-Money Laundering, Combating the Financing of Terrorism, and Countering Proliferation Financing (AML/CFT/CPF) controls across the financial sector in line with existing legal and regulatory obligations.
She added that further supervisory engagement will be undertaken as appropriate, suggesting that more steps could follow depending on what its checks turn up.
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