The Committee of Chief Compliance Officers of Banks in Nigeria (CCCOBIN) has been advised to adhere to International Standards as they grapple with new challenges of a cashless economy, anti- money laundering and countering financing terrorism in order to change the negative perception of Nigeria in the global financial market.

The Group Managing Director /Chief Executive of Union Bank of Nigeria PLC, Mrs Funke Osibodu made this call in Lagos while addressing members of the Committee at a general meeting hosted by the Bank.

Osibodu said that the negative perception and threat to blacklist Nigeria in the global financial market stemmed from non-adherence to anti-money laundering and countering financing terrorism laws; and for the Country to change the perception, the compliance function in different banks need to be enhanced and made more stringent even as they participated in the international AML/CFT programmes so as to appreciate the country’s stance against money laundering.

On the cashless policy, Osibodu canvassed for shared experience and robust discussions among all stakeholders, saying this would help to tackle issues emerging from the new policy, pointing out the tremendous progress made in the electronic  banking products, mobile banking and prepaid cards.

She averred that cashless policy would bring both positive and negative effect on money laundering, financing terrorism and other forms of financial crimes, but stressed that the positive impact would far outweigh the negatives.

While positing that the cashless policy had come to change the face and mode of operations in Nigeria and no one could claim to be an overall expert, Osibodu believed that sharing of experiences would go a long way in helping the citizens derive the benefits of policy.

 The advent of the cashless economy, she argued, would frustrate some illegal activities by money launderers and terrorists to generate revenue that was difficult to track in the financial system.

And given that legitimate businesses are also used by the terrorist groups and their supporters to either raise funds in support of logistics and operational requirements to cover some activities of the groups or as a front for money laundering, the committee, she said, should develop the sensitivity and tools that could be in focusing on these areas.