The President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, (ICAN), has expressed the willingness of the Institute to partner with the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML), the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) and other stakeholders to eliminate corruption in the country.
The 59th President of the Institute, Dr. Innocent Okwuosa, FCA made the commitment in Lagos during a retreat of the Governing Council of the Institute recently in the presence of all the representatives of the SCUML, NFIU, FRC and the Big Four Accounting firms.
According to Dr.Okwuosa, the retreat was organized to review the Institute’s processes in view of its upward trajectory mandate to deepen its advocacy and thought leadership mandate in national development, among other initiatives.
The President seized the opportunity to appeal to SCUML to review some of its operational processes that make direct registration difficult, forcing stakeholders to register through consultants. He also promised that the Institute would leverage the template received from SCUML to implement market entry control checks on licensed firms.
In his submission, Mr. Matthew Enu, FCA who represented Mr. Daniel Isei, Director at SCUML stated that as a global standard setter, self–regulatory bodies, like ICAN, should take the necessary measures to prevent criminals or their associates from being professionally accredited or hold a significant, controlling interest or management function in accounting firms. He further urged ICAN to always partner law enforcement agents or relevant authorities in conducting background checks on intending licensees.
Executive Secretary of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), Ambassador Shuaibu Adamu Ahmed, FCA, traced the origin of the Council to ICAN’s establishment of the then Nigerian Accounting Standards Board (NASB) which later metamorphosed to Financial Reporting Council. He commended ICAN for its immense roles and collaboration with FRC. “A good cordial relationship with relevant stakeholders in the Accountancy profession is important for growth and development of the profession in our country. The FRC is therefore urging the Professional Accountancy Bodies in the country to work with FRC for the good of the profession and the country at large,” he stated.
Similarly, the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) through its Head of Sanctions, Mr. Chinedum Odenyi posited that the Designated Non-Financial Business and Professions (DNFBPs) are the most crucial and vulnerable to money laundering and terrorism financing. He therefore solicited for more interaction with ICAN to strengthen compliance with the relevant Anti Money Laundry/Combating the Financing of Terrorism/Counter Proliferation Financing (AML/CFT/CPF) laws, regulations and guidelines to ensure there is clear understanding of obligations.
He also recommended establishing an effective system to identify ML/TF risks, have measures in place to mitigate those risks, and file Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) to the NFIU. These are part of the requirements for Nigeria to exit the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey-list.
He further urged Financial Institutions and Designated Non-Financial Business and Professions (DNFBPs) to develop and implement robust processes and procedures for implementation of AML/CFT/CPF obligations with particular emphasis on Risk Assessment on Money Laundering & Associated predicate offences, stand alone Counter Financing of Terrorism (CFT) risk assessment, and establish measures for effective detection of politically exposed persons/their family members/close associate, among others.
At the end of the retreat, SCUML and NFIU sought the Institute’s collaboration in ensuring that Nigeria exits the grey listing by the Financial Action Task force (FATF)
The immediate past Country Partner of PwC, Mr. Uyi Akpata, in his submission assured the Institute of PwC’s partnership to promote high accounting Standards, enhance the competence of accountants’, discourage proliferation of accounting bodies and strengthen the profession’s role in national development.
