Two Bills seeking to repeal the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2011 and enact the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2021 (SB 789 and SB 642) passed second reading in the Senate on Wednesday, 10 November 2021.
Leading the debate on Bills, the sponsors, Sen. Sadiq Suleiman Umar (APC: Kwara) and Sen. Suleiman Abdu Kwari (APC: Kaduna) in their respective submissions, noted that the Bills seek to provide a comprehensive legal framework for the prevention and prohibition of Money Laundering in Nigeria. Sen. Umar had explained that his Bill (SB 789), also provides for the establishment of the Special Control Unit on Money Laundering (SCUML) under the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Sen Kwari speaking on his version of the Bill (SB 642), provided a comprehensive legislative proposal and specific objectives of the Bill and they include the following:
- Provision of an effective and comprehensive legal and institutional framework for the prevention, prohibition, detection, prosecution and punishment of money laundering and other related offences in Nigeria.
- Strengthening the existing system for combating money laundering and associated predicate offences.
- Making adequate provisions to guard against money laundering.
- Provision of appropriate penalties and expansion of the scope of supervisory bodies whilst recognizing the role of certain self-regulatory organizations to address the challenges faced in the implementation of a comprehensive anti-money laundering regime in Nigeria.
- Provision for protection of employees of various institutions, bodies and professions who may discover cases of money laundering.
- Introduction of certain supervisory and enforcement measures including imposition of administrative penalties by relevant authorities on financial institutions, designated non-financial businesses and professions, for breach of any requirement imposed by law.
According to Sen. Kwari, the Bill further seeks to resolve the institutional issue of the Special Control Unit against Money Laundering (SCUML) being under the Federal Ministry of Trade and currently being managed by EFCC, by establishing the Bureau for Money Laundering Control which will be domiciled in the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).
In conclusion, both lawmakers citing Order 77(3) of the Senate Standing Orders, 2015 (as amended), mentioned that the proposed Bills has no additional financial implication, if passed into law.
