SEC restates commitment to fight money laundering, terrorism financing in capital market

THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday expressed commitment to ensuring that the capital market was not used for money laundering and terrorism financing.

Ms Mary Uduk, SEC Acting Director-General, stated this in her opening remarks at the Anti Money laundering (goAML) training for compliance Officers of capital market operators (CMOs) in Lagos.

Uduk, represented by Malam Adamu Sambo, a Deputy Director and Head of Department, Monitoring, said that the commission would ensure that the capital market domain was not used in any way to inject illegal funds.

She said that the commission, as the apex regulator of the Nigerian capital market with a vision to developing and regulating a world-class Capital Market, would not relent in its drive to fighting the menace of money laundering and terrorism financing.

Uduk said that financial institutions needed to shoulder great responsibility in ensuring compliance with all rules and regulations governing the financial system.

ALSO READ: Buhari wades into legislative crisis in Guinea Bissau

“It is our collective responsibility as stakeholders to collaborate and work together as a community in building more capacity in the system for the effective compliance program.

“The principles for market intermediaries is to have an efficiently functioning system that delivers compliance with standards for internal organisations and operational conduct.

“The commission is investing in human capital training and developments in addition to the promotion of innovative technology and proffer solutions in the SEC’s and the capital market operations as contained in the SEC 10-year Capital Market Master Plan (CMMP),” Uduk said.

She said the goAML training organised in partnership with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) was going to be hands-on, a practical approach aimed at addressing challenges by CMOs in a rendition of statutory returns and taking compliance to the next level in the capital market.

Uduk, however, expressed the commission’s readiness to engage relevant stakeholders in building capacity on developments and trends in compliance; changes in laws and rules and regulations, the interpretation and application of same by the relevant authorities.

She said that these would encourage and promote the culture of compliance among financial Institutions.

“goAML software application is a fully integrated software solution developed specifically for use by Financial Intelligence Units (FIU’s) and is one of United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) strategic responses to financial crime, including money-laundering and terrorist financing,” she said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the training was in line with the initiatives introduced by the SEC to sustain the confidence of investors in the capital market and to instil discipline in the transactional processes in the market.