Bank Experts Advocate For Employing Technology To Address Financial Crimes....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

Crime experts have urged the Nigerian government and financial institutions to tackle financial crimes by adopting innovative technologies. These experts made this recommendation during the Award Ceremony/Fin-Crime Summit held in Lagos, emphasizing the potential of technologies like Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, big data, and advanced cognitive analytics/algorithms to significantly reduce financial crimes within the financial sector.

Professor Ehi Eric Esoimeme, a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Consultant (CAMC), highlighted the challenges within the banking sector, including national barriers, legal obstacles, institutional issues, and operational challenges. He explained that national barriers involved the absence of reliable government data and outdated national risk assessments related to money laundering and terrorism financing. Legal hurdles encompassed the lack of clear guidance on the use of financial technology for data sharing and regulatory requirements for employing anti-money laundering solutions with embedded machine learning techniques. Institutional and operational barriers included cyberattacks, insider fraud, and ineffective information sharing between parent and subsidiary entities for anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) purposes.

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To address these issues effectively, Esoimeme recommended regular updates to Nigeria’s National Risk Assessment to reflect the country’s current risk profile. He also suggested that the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) maintain up-to-date Beneficial Ownership information. Regarding institutional and operational reforms, Esoimeme proposed that banks and financial institutions allocate adequate resources for monitoring daily compliance with cybersecurity measures and process automation to mitigate cyberattacks.

In addressing cross-border financial crime risks, especially within the African Continental Free Trade Area, Esoimeme encouraged law enforcement agencies to focus on complicit merchants facilitating trade-based money laundering (TBML) and professionals, including those in the financial sector, accountants, real estate agents, and lawyers. He emphasized the importance of collaboration with other countries to trace illicit proceeds, identify involved parties, gather evidence, and seize assets when pursuing global money laundering syndicates.

During the event, Rezaul Karim, Assistant Vice President of Compliance at HSBC Bangladesh, discussed the consequences of ineffective anti-money laundering leadership and strategies for building and leading anti-money laundering teams. Additionally, Paul Allieu Kamara, Public Relations Officer at Rudolph Kwanue University, demonstrated problem-solving techniques for Anti-FinCrime leaders in the African Continental Free Trade Area.

Ehi Eric Esoimeme, a recognized expert in public law and financial crime compliance, was honored with Associate Professorship from Rudolph Kwanue University (Liberia) and Full Professorship from African Union University (Ethiopia) for his contributions to Public Law and Financial Crime Compliance. During the Award Ceremony/Fin-Crime Summit, he received several prestigious awards, including Doctorate in Economics, Banking, and Finance (Honoris Causa), Doctorate in International Relations (Honoris Causa), and a Certificate of Membership of the Board of Trusteeship from Institu Universitare Du Benin (IUB) University. He also received a special award of recognition from the Nigeria Police Force, Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC) Area C Command for his philanthropic endeavors and dedication to the Nigerian Police.