Nigeria’s halt to forex sales to money changers may increase trade-based financial crime risk
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced it has halted sales of foreign exchange to the country’s money changers or Bureaux De Change (BDCs) on the grounds that they facilitate illicit financial flows (IFFs) and other financial crimes, including terrorist funding. As this move blocks…
NEITI focuses on beneficial ownership as it gains traction with Nigeria’s legislators
The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) says its engagement with legislators in the national assembly is gaining traction as it seeks to persuade them to frame laws that curb financial crime, terrorist financing and illicit financial flows involving the country’s oil and gas assets….
Anti-corruption group report critical of banks and their role in IFFs flowing from Nigeria to the UK and UAE
Nigerian NGO Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) has published a three part report on policies, laws and practices in the UK and the UAE as well as domestically in relation to the roles of financial and non-financial institutions in the facilitation of illicit financial…
Decentralise Nigerian money laundering investigations to cut out corrupt officials says ACFE
The Lagos Chapter of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) is calling on the Nigerian federal government to consider decentralising investigations of money laundering and other related crimes to more effectively curb illicit financial flows (IFFs). President of the Lagos Chapter of the international…
Coronavirus funding threatens Nigeria’s efforts to tackle IFFs
Funding to tackle illicit financial flows (IFFs) out of Nigeria is under threat as a result of cuts made in the country’s 2021 budget. Despite announcing a record naira 13.5 billion naira (N13.5 billion – US$35.5 billion) budget to tackle the negative impacts of the…
Nigeria clamps down on over-invoicing and forex overpricing
The Central Bank of Nigeria’s Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU) and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) are working with Interpol and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in an investigation to uncover companies engaged in foreign exchange fraud that involves the purchase of over-invoiced…
Journalists awarded grants for investigating IFFs, noxious assets, money laundering and corruption
A total of 20 journalists have received grants to fund investigative research and reports on corruption, money laundering, noxious assets and cross-border illicit financial flows (IFFs). The grants were awarded by the Nigeria-based non-profit Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) Resource Centre in collaboration with…
Nigeria initiates inter-agency probe to tackle IFFs and revenue losses
Nigeria’s senate has initiated an inter-agency investigation into illicit financial flows (IFFs) and is contemplating the creation of a tax amnesty for the voluntary repatriation of funds to Nigeria. The bulk of IFFs are initiated by multinational corporations that neglect, fail and refuse to pay…
