Why banks should adopt anti-money laundering measures

Banks have been urged to see anti-money laundering (AML/CFT) compliance as obligatory because of the need to insulate banks and other financial institutions against criminal activities.Managing Director of DataPro Limited, Mr. Abimbola Adeseyoju, who said this at the January meeting of the Committee of Chief Compliance Officers of Banks in Nigeria (CCCoBIN) sponsored by his company as part of activities to mark 20 years of its existence, added that with AML/CFT compliance the economy will be protected from avoidable crises.Adeseyoju wondered what happens if we build around our banks and institutions around the bad guys'When the storm comes, we cannot properly profile out customers. Their loans are not serviced. And they (customers) do not care and simply walk away. That is why we need to do all the Know Your Customer (KYC), Customer Due Diligence (CDD) Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) Record Keeping, Mandatory and Suspicious Reporting and put in place Processes, Procedures, Policies and Programs, the DataPro boss said.He maintained that the above measures are duties forced on banks as necessary tools for the survival of the banking business, so it is therefore expected that compliance practitioners should obey the law and comply with regulations.Adeseyoju warned banks that reputational risks are something that cannot be quantified in naira, adding that compliance is the only provision for reputational risk. Taking the banks and their compliance officers down memory lane, he said: Our brand is only as strong as our reputation. The events of August 2009 are still fresh.Compliance or the public perception of some operators moved them notches up to the top of the ladder. Those of us in compliance should therefore, see ourselves as the custodians of our institutions.DataPro is regarded as the leading and most experienced AML/CFT compliance training and consulting firm in Nigeria that offers AML/CFT compliance training services to more than 70 per cent of the banks and other non-bank financial institutions in Nigeria. The firm is a development partner of the Committee of Chief Compliance Officers of Banks in Nigeria (CCCOBIN).The post Why banks should adopt anti-money laundering measures appeared first on The Nation.]]>
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