The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has released a stricter regime for Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) that will impose fines on banks, their directors and other key officials for 48 money laundering infractions whereas the prior regime only fined financial institutions for AML violations. The new regime will also ensure Nigeria’s compliance with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendation 35.
Board members and Chief Compliance Officers (CCO) will also be subject to sanctions for 31 out of the 48 money laundering infractions listed in the new regime which include failure to approve the AML/CFT policies and procedures, failure to review/update the AML/CFT policies and procedures at least every three years, failure to communicate the AML/CFT program of the organization to the employees, and failure of the board or its committee to supervise and ensure the effective implementation of the AML/CFT programme.
The fines or penalties imposed are also dependent on the severity of the infraction and can range from a minimum fine of N500,000 up to N1.2 million for board members, internal auditors or CCOs. For the offending financial institutions the fines are much higher and can range from N1 million up to N20 million.
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