The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has raised concerns over terrorism-financing risks in the financial sector, elevating supervision of the risk to a current priority.
The apex bank said the move was part of efforts to protect Nigeria’s financial system from abuse by illicit actors.
The CBN said its supervisory focus would cover terrorism-financing risk management, transaction monitoring, implementation of targeted financial sanctions, and terrorism-financing-related suspicious transaction reporting.
“This supervisory priority covers, at a high level, terrorism financing risk management, terrorism financing transaction monitoring, targeted financial sanctions implementation, and terrorism financing-related suspicious transaction reporting,” the bank said.
According to the CBN, it will use both on-site and off-site engagements to assess anti-money laundering, counter-financing of terrorism, and counter-proliferation financing controls across the financial sector.
The development places greater emphasis on banks and other regulated financial institutions to strengthen their systems for identifying suspicious transactions, implementing sanctions, and reporting potential terrorism-financing activities.
The apex bank said the enhanced supervision would also support Nigeria’s domestic and international cooperation on counter-terrorism financing, counter-proliferation financing and financial integrity.
