Buhari’s anti-money laundering Bill

The origin of most of the economic and financial crimes are products which are washed frequently with accommodation in institutions or financial and non-financial investments designated legitimate businesses.

According to the Oxford Dictionary advanced student (International Student Edition), bleaching involves moving the money was obtained illegally in bank accounts abroad or legal transactions by making it difficult for people to know where the money comes from.

The range of illicit activities in which the product can be bleached include corruption, immorality, fraud, drug trafficking, theft of crude oil, forgery, alteration, unauthorized mineral resources exploitation, trafficking, baby factory of armed robbery, kidnapping, smuggling and trade in endangered species, stolen art and archaeological artifacts.

In most cases, the money from these activities is very hard to find, except for experts in investigating financial crime.

There is no doubt that the campaign to coerce and control economic and financial crimes in Nigeria is growing under the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

In a way, this campaign and the international correlation can be observed at this critical time of globalization, the economy and market reforms globally in the commitment to clean the public and the environment of the business is in the heart of readers to reverse the stagnant economies of many countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
 
In this regard, the international financial institutions (IFIs), particularly the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU), stressed the paramount importance in various forums on the fight against economic and financial crimes.

In particular, international financial institutions have signed transparency and the overall integrity of compliance protocols as essential Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for countries that receive their own bill of economic health and financial advice or assistance . This is due to the inescapable fact that these crimes are at odds with the efforts of the Cold War to steer developing countries towards the economic rejuvenation and sustainability.

For example, in many peripheral economies in sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria, economic and financial crimes, among others, led to an economic growth without development and equity, deprivation and auxiliary mass extreme poverty, social unrest and crime and insecurity, destabilization of viable and credible process of transparency and accountability in the governance of both public and private, loss of capacity utilization, capital flight, in the lull entrepreneurship, institutional decay, unfavorable external image and the resulting decline in foreign direct investment (FDI) and visa problems.

In recent years, the arrangements or agreements with the emerging international economic and financial crimes include institutional frameworks FATF and the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units Global (UIF). Instructive The FATF was created with the primary goal of a global campaign against economic and financial crime and illicit flows of money from trafficking in hard drugs and arms.

Until now, many countries have signed the protocol initiated by this international organization based in Paris. A FATF - style regional body (FSRB) that Nigeria is a member of Group Inter-Governmental Action against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA), a specialized agency of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) based in Dakar, Senegal. Essentially, GIABA is responsible for facilitating the adoption and implementation of anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT rules) in the sub-region, while ensuring compliance / CTF international AML.

As a signatory of the Protocols of the FATF and the World Egmont Group, Nigeria has taken a bold step to establish the Committee on Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in 2002. Since then, the EFCC has made substantial progress in its relentless and determined efforts to curb economic and financial crime, with a large number of criminals who are harassed and jailed by the commission. quite easily, these efforts resulted in Nigeria hit by the FATF against the risk of countries that are subject to financial crimes.

Given the need for new impetus to strengthen the fight against money laundering, terrorist financing and other illegal activities that threaten and undermine our financial system and national security, the National Assembly in 2014 proposed a bill to the creation of the financial intelligence Centre of Nigeria (NFIC).

The bill, which was initiated separately and much debated in the Senate and the House of Representatives considers certain provisions of the Law on the EFCC and changed the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, by transferring activities the financial intelligence Unit of Nigeria (FIU) against money laundering currently domiciled in the EFCC NFIC project. Unfortunately, lawmakers of the 7th National Assembly could not pass this important bill before leaving office last year.

Yet another hope to address cases of money laundering in Nigeria was revived by President Buhari, who recently sent the "Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Bill, 2016" to the National Assembly for consideration .

In the analysis, the bill aims to establish the office in money laundering (OCME), which are independent in the performance of their duties and responsibilities. according to "Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Bill 2016", while the author is defined as "a person who knows, you should reasonably have known or suspected that the property has a criminal commits an offense if hidden, costumes, converts, transfers or removes the property of Nigeria. the bill provides for any farm penalty convicted of the crime, and judgment shall be imprisoned for a period of not less than seven years without the option of a fine.

Under the "money laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Bill 2016," a bank is convicted of money laundering would be liable for a fine of not less than N25 million and a non-financial corporation occupation and designated receive a fine of less than N10 million if found guilty of the crime. the bill also provides for three or more years in prison for anyone who does not report those involved in the illegal act.

Needless to say that the draft law against money laundering in Buhari is in conjunction with the urgent need to create a formidable body to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and other financial crimes in Nigeria intelligence.

Such a body - as required by the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2012 (as amended), the Law on Terrorism (Prevention) Act 2013 (as amended) or any other relevant law or regulations - would be good policy mechanisms and decision - do require adequate, quality and timely analysis needed to control and suppress the flow of funds from illicit activities that could have a negative impact on our economy and national security of a deeper or information so quickly.