A Bill seeking to establish the Chartered Compliance Institute of Nigeria, to regulate members of the profession, has passed second reading at the Senate.
This followed presentation of the general principles of the bill by its sponsor, Sen. Barinada Mpgi (PDP- Rivers) at plenary on Tuesday.
Mpigi, presenting the bill said it was read for the first time on July 27, 2023.
He said the bill when passed, would ensure operators of the anti-money laundering and counter financing of terrorism ecosystem, who are compliance officers, maintained and promote best practices, standards for the compliance profession.
He said duties of compliance officers are provided for in the Money Laundering Prevention and Prohibition Act 2022.
According to him, they are to ensure that all corporate processes and procedures within their respective sectors comply with the laws of the land and their internal Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
He listed the sectors to include financial and designated non financial businesses and professions, Manufacturing, Oil and Gas, Energy, Food and Beverages, Telecoms, MDAs,Law Enforcement.
Others are Anti- Corruption and Not-For-Profit Organizations (NPOs).
Mpigi said the Federal Government had endorsed, ratified several anti-graft related instruments.
He said the bill sought to ensure compliance with some of country’s international obligations.
He said such commitments were to the United Nations Conference of States Parties to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC).
“Furthermore, in 2023, the financial action task force, downgraded Nigeria and South Africa to its grey list .
“A direct consequence is the devaluation of both the Rand and Naira against the dollar, as international investors now have to conduct enhanced due diligence on the country, this has made investments more difficult and expensive.
“It is, therefore, the duty of this chartered compliance institute of compliance officers to promote professionalism and strict adherence to regulatory and non-regulatory standards across all industries .
*It is their duty to ensure that adequate measures are put in place to help lift Nigeria out of the grey-list and back into global financial reckoning.”
Mpigi said passage of the bill would further demonstrate national assembly’s resolve to lead the charge in developing, refining and bench-marking this level of commitment to the country.
He said government would play its role of regulating the economy, while the private sector through key strategic institutions, would train staff and retrain compliance departments in their respective domains as a second line of defense.
This, he said, would save the institutions from expensive sanctions and reputational damage, which would negatively impact the inflow of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the country.
Following second reading of the bill, Deputy President of Senate, Barau Jibrin (APC-Kano) refered the bill to Committees on Public Service Establishment and Legislative Compliance for further inputs and to return back to plenary in four weeks.(NAN)
