Adeduntan Calls for Collaborative Efforts to Combat Financial Crime

Nume Ekeghe

The Chief Executive Officer, FirstBank Group, Dr Adesola Adeduntan has for enhanced collaboration in the financial system ecosystem to combat financial crimes.  

He stated this while speaking at the Association of Chief Compliance Officers of Banks in Nigeria (ACCOBIN), General meeting in Lagos where stakeholders converged to discuss, “Institutionalising Customer Due Diligence/Know Your Customer (KYC) in the Financial Services Sector.”

He said: “When the campaign for Compliance and Anti-Money Laundering/Countering Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) started years back, many people saw it as an alien concept. But over the years, we have all come to see that it is a must-win war for the sustainability of our businesses and indeed, the continuous survival of humans. Little wonder ‘Countering Proliferation Financing (PF)’ has now been added to the global onslaught against financial crimes.

“In an era marked by progressive technological advancement and an increasingly interconnected global economy, it is imperative for professionals from the regulatory and operational organisations within each sub-system to come together to adopt robust and effective measures to combat money laundering, terrorism, and proliferation financing, fraud, and other illicit activities.”

He added that FirstBank iscommitted to actively enhancing our Customer Due Diligence (CDD) practices because it recognises the critical role that CDD plays in maintaining the security of our operations and building trust with our clients.

He further reiterated that they have continued to harness the power of technology to implement comprehensive CDD measures and are steadfastly working towards ensuring a seamless and secure environment for our clients and other stakeholders.