The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) has partnered with London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) to fight financial crimes.
Speaking yesterday during a joint dialogue between NFIU, LSEG and other stakeholders held in Lagos, NFIU Chief Executive Officer, Hafsat Bakari, said the event demonstrates how the public sector and private organisations can work together to bring attention to some of the key financial crime threats that are facing Nigeria and the region.
According to her, fighting financial crime is everyone’s business. She said: “It is possible to create a sustainable system which not only prevents future crimes but also enhances our efforts in protecting the future of the country by ensuring the resources are used for its progress and establishing an enabling environment for investments in the country. Public-Private Partnerships provide one of the routes in achieving that objective and the NFIU-LSEG Risk Intelligence partnership demonstrates how such partnerships can be game-changers”.
Bakari reiterated that no one organization, public or private has the capacity to confront the myriad financial crimes challenges being faced in isolation. According to her, it is only through cooperation that we can expect to win.
She said that: “Nigeria and the global community face a growing and interconnected web of financial crimes that undermine our economic integrity, threaten our national and global security, and facilitate the spread of weapons and other illicit goods that destabilize our region”.
Bakari said the threats are not only complex but also international in nature, taking advantage of gaps in oversight, regulation, and enforcement. “More importantly, the networks that facilitate these crimes, exploit weaknesses in our ability to work together and share information across all the stakeholders involved in the fight against financial crime,” she said.
According to her, Financial Information Sharing Partnerships provide a structured and effective platform for the pooling of resources, intelligence, and technologies.
“They enable stakeholders to align their efforts, share actionable insights, and develop strategies to counter financial crimes at all levels. These partnerships can take the form of collaboration between the public and private sector or indeed within the private sector itself,” she said.
She explained that a prime example of a successful PPP in Nigeria is the Bank Verification Number (BVN) initiative. This partnership between the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and commercial banks has been transformative in combating financial crimes. This initiative has strengthened the nation’s anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) framework and demonstrates the potential of PPPs to deliver systemic impact.
“While the BVN implementation has had tremendous value for our law enforcement and supervisory authorities, I believe we should not rest on our oars. We must continuously seek new innovative approaches, for instance through shared KYC systems, joint analytical teams, shared watchlists and multi-sectoral fusion centres all of which have been used extensively and to great effect in other jurisdictions,” she said.
“Another example of the use of PPPs in our national AML/CFT/CPF framework is the effort to combat wildlife crimes, which are increasingly recognized as a significant predicate offence for money laundering. Working with banks, law enforcement and prosecutorial authorities we are making significant strides in combating wildlife trafficking networks that fund and benefit from criminal enterprises that undermine biodiversity,” she stated.
Chair of the United for Wildlife Financial Task, Xolisile Khanyile, explained that to prevent partnership from being disbanded, it is critical that it should be legislated, because legislation brings comfort to those who are insecure to start.
According to her, investigations and prosecutions on financial crimes are not rampant, with cross border elements making money laundering and financial crimes, complex. She added that self- money laundering exists, but they involve small amount of values.
The panel section of the event, presented opportunity for industry stakeholders and the team from the London Stock Exchange Group to explore new ways money laundering perpetrators explore loopholes to perpetrate the crimes.
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