The new leadership and management of Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said it was collaborating with other financial sector regulators and agencies to assist Nigeria in exiting the “FATF Grey List” as part of its mandate to enhance the market and make it a global investment destination once again.
Briefing newsmen after the first Capital Market Committee meeting under the new leadership, the SEC Director General and Chairman of Capital Market Committee, Dr. Emomotimi Agama, revealed that the Commission had already mandated capital market operators (CMOs) to prepare and submit their enterprise risk management frameworks and annual risk profiles to the capital market apex regulator.
The FATF identifies countries or jurisdictions with weak measures or serious strategic deficiencies to counter money laundering, terrorist financing, and financing of proliferation (AML/CFT).
Under two categories of FATF public documents that are issued three times a year countries with weak AML/CFT regimes are placed FATF Grey List while those identified as high risk are on FATF Black List.
As of June 2024, the FATF has reviewed 133 countries and jurisdictions and publicly identified 108 of them out of which 84 had since made the necessary reforms to address their AML/ CFT weaknesses and have been removed from the process.
For all countries identified as high-risk, the FATF calls on all members and urges all jurisdictions to apply enhanced due diligence, and in the most serious cases, countries are called upon to apply counter-measures to protect the international financial system from the ongoing money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing risks emanating from the country.
Among the High-Risk Jurisdictions subject to a call for action as of June 2024 are Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Iran, and Myanmar.
Nigeria, on the other hand, is among the jurisdictions under increased monitoring for enhanced due diligence, and counter-measures to protect the international financial system as well as proliferation of financing risks emanating from the country.