CBN works to remove Nigeria from anti-money laundering watchlist - Cardoso

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Yemi Cardoso, has announced that the apex bank is committed at the highest level to facilitate the removal of Nigeria from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). “grey list,” an anti-money laundering watchlist.

Cardoso made this known during a briefing with journalists and stakeholders in Washington, US, following meetings with World Bank officials.

The FATF added Nigeria to the gray list on February 24, 2024.

Cardoso emphasized that the removal of Nigeria from the list was a key agenda item during the bank’s recent engagements.

“The team is focused on driving progress by identifying and resolving any bottlenecks hindering the flow of funds into Nigeria through formal channels. I would like to emphasize that we are engaging at the highest level to remove Nigeria from the FATF gray list, a key issue in our recent engagement,” Cardoso said.

Commitment to growing remittances

Furthermore, the CBN Governor reiterated the bank’s promise to increase remittances to $1 billion within the shortest possible time.

He explained that his team was working with leading international money transfer operators (IMTOs) to drive inflows through formal channels.

Cardoso added that they were also meeting with Nigerian diaspora communities to launch an account program and establish partnerships with Nigerian banks.

“In addition to our meetings with senior members of multilateral financial institutions, we had the opportunity to launch the non-resident account program and engage the diaspora communities in partnership with Nigerian banks.

“Our team had productive discussions with the leading IMTO as they jointly committed to growing the flow of funds into Nigeria to $1 billion through formal channels.

“This target is both ambitious and achievable and we are fully committed to mobilizing resources to strengthen the collaborative task force I lead at the bank,” he said.

What you need to know

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) added Nigeria and South Africa to the gray list on February 24, 2024.

Countries on the gray list will face increased scrutiny and need to strengthen their efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, the task force said.
The FATF explained that inclusion on the gray list indicates a commitment by the jurisdiction to address the identified strategic deficiencies within agreed timeframes.
As an intergovernmental policy body, the FATF focuses on combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
Recently, the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) announced that the FATF had approved Nigeria’s fourth progress report since it was placed under supervision.