The President of Compliance Institute, Nigeria (CIN), Pattison Boleigha and the Director General of Nigerian Financial Intelligent Unit (NFIU), Hajia Afsat Bakare, have unanimously underscored the need to embrace AI and Machine Learning in advancing compliance and fighting money laundering in Nigeria
“Embrace technology, embrace data analytic tools, artificial intelligence and machine learning solutions to enhance our ability to detect and respond to suspicious activities.”, Hajia Afsat Bakare said on Saturday.
Director General of Nigerian Financial Intelligent Unit (NFIU), Hajia Afsat Bakare has called on Compliance practitioners to embrace technological innovations in fighting money laundering in Nigeria.
Hajia Bakare, represented by Chief Operating Officer, Financial Sector of NFIU, Bashir Babagana, said this on Saturday at the 8th Annual Induction of the Compliance Institute, Nigeria, held at The Colisium, Lekki, Lagos, with the theme; ‘Striving in a complex environment; today’s compliance officer’.
Hajia Bakare buttressed the imperativeness of her call with the challenges Nigeria has faced from being on the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force.
She said; “As you know, Nigerian has been always faced with the challenges of been on the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force. The listing of Nigeria in February last year was based on identification of a number of strategic deficiencies across our anti money laundering and counter financing terrorism regime. These deficiencies cut across all aspects of FATF standard and depicted our seeming inability as a country to work together in a common goal of combating serious financial crime.”
The President of CIN, Pattison Boleigha while speaking with CEM Television in a pre-event interview, underscored the need for the theme of the event.
He said; “We came to the conclusion that the world is changing so quickly, technology is evolving so fast, regulations are taking new dimensions, regulators are getting a little bit tougher, the regulators themselves are getting more regulatory obligations to comply with. In all of these, in the global arena, we are also seeing harsh economic dimensions; increase in crime and criminality. ”
“In this kind of period, the compliance officer cannot remain the same and so we need to up our game and they need to do things differently. We now have a crop pf compliance officers who are now in their own generation. The way the world has evolved technologically, compliance has to follow suit. Compliance officers need to get more technical and be knowledgeable in the field of technology: AI, machine learning. We also need to engage more with regulators and regulatory authorities to help improve the standard of regulation and ensure that the regulations being dished out are helping to solve problems in this complex new world”
Compliance Institute, Nigeria (CIN) inducted 665 Designate Compliance Professionals along with other Associates and Fellows at the ceremony. This, the President of the Institute, Pattison Boleigha, rightly referred to as a significant milestone for the institute being the highest number of DCPs to be inducted in a single event.
In his welcome address, Boleigha highlighted the growth the institute has witnessed over the years with current membership strength at 5,156, while he expressed determination to surpass 8,000 by the end of 2025.
“We now have over 5,156 members, with representation in financial and non-financial sectors across Africa, Europe, and North America. Our goal is to surpass 8,000 members by the end of 2025, reaching professionals in diverse sectors, including the NBA, insurance, oil and gas, telecommunications, and capital markets.”; Boleigha said.
Boleigha charged the inductees to become more professional and exemplary in their conduct.
“This induction brings with it the responsibility to uphold the highest standards of integrity, professionalism, and ethical conduct. I urge each of you to let your dedication and performance in the workplace reflect the values of CIN. Strive to distinguish yourselves as exemplary compliance professionals.”
A few of the inductees expressed their delight at being inducted into the institute.
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