Compliance institute set to sanitise financial institutions

Towards eradicating money laundering, funding of terrorism and other acts bedeviling the country’s financial institutions, the Compliance Institute for Banks and other Financial Institutions in Nigeria has shown its resolve to tackle the malaise in the sector.

President/Chairman board of the institute, Pattison Boleigha, who stated this during the certification on regulatory environment, compliance regulation (International and Regional context) in Lagos, said inculcating the culture of compliance is the only antidote to correcting the ills in the country.

He noted that the hydra-headed challenges facing the country, like corruption, money laundry and crime generally are escalating on daily basis, due to non-compliance to the set rules, adding that closing the knowledge and capacity gap in the sector, would assist them, in driving compliance culture in the country.

“As an initial starting point, we started from our catchment areas, which is financial institutions but we actually intend to spread the compliance culture across all sectors of our environment. As time goes on, we are expecting to bring in our compliance colleagues from Oil and gas, Telecom, Manufacturing, aviation and government that is our ultimate objective. But for now, we are starting with our catchment area and we believe we will make great impact in financial institutions.

“When we started from Committee of Chief Compliance Officers of banks, we already have it in our minds the kind of problems in financial institutions and sow e set up this institute to address the gap in knowledge. What we are doing is to come up with Diploma and Certificate programme, to address these issues in the industry,” he stated.

Boleigha hinted that the institute is not a regulatory body but a private effort, which ultimate intention is to apply for a charter, “if approved by the National Assembly will then make the institute become a national institution and by so doing, we will be able to manage the compliance professionals and set standards. We are not going to be giving sanctions, but we will ensure that sanction within the institutions are meted out from time to time.”

He suggested that if Nigerians imbibe the culture of compliance and ensure that they get things right, crime rate, corruption and other social vices would become a thing of the past; the Nigerian polity will enjoy a better life.

Chairman, Finance Committee, Board of Trustees of the institute, said the institute is building professionals who would propagate the message across the country. “We think if we do that over the next few years, we would have a good crop of people, who would promote good governance in the country and we can say our country is where it ought to be.

“We are not just trying to improve compliance level in the banking industry, we believe we are setting the ground work to have a very good country in future.”