Lamorde laments relationship between EFCC, banks

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission says it will not detain the chief compliance officers of commercial banks whenever they are invited during investigations into money laundering and other financial crimes.

The Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, said this in Lagos during a meeting with CCO’s of banks in Nigeria on Thursday.

He said, “I will encourage CCOs to be open with law enforcement agencies whenever they come asking for information concerning financial crimes. Just tell them when you think the information they demand would be available.
“As it is, there is no open line of discussion between the banks, the EFCC and the NFIU. Instead, the relationship is one of mutual suspicion. Often there is the suspicion that anyone who is invited by the EFFC to make a statement will be detained.

“The EFCC will not detain CCOs; if you are invited for a statement, you will not be treated harshly. I will not support the actions of security agencies who treat CCOs as if they were directly involved in the crime.”

Over 35 compliance officers from various banks had expressed fears of being detained by law enforcement agencies during investigations of money laundering involving bank customers.

Lamorde also condemned the lacklustre manner in which most banks, according to him, treat the reporting of financial crimes.

He said, “Banks treat reporting with laxity; the reporting templates filled out by the banks leads one to conclude that some banks are either criminally minded, harbouring criminals, or just plain unserious. Some banks, perhaps as a result of nascent pressure to post profits, shelter criminal elements to the detriment of the law.”

The Chief Financial Officer of Sterling Bank, Mr. Abubakar Suleiman, who represented the bank’s Chief Executive Officer, described the major challenge of compliance officers as how to achieve financial inclusion in the country without the attendant problems of terrorism and money laundering activities.

He said, “The issue of compliance in banking arose because of problems in other countries. Our own peculiar problem is how to bring people into the financial sector so that they become productive. Currently, Nigeria has the lowest banking penetration in Africa.”