Nigeria: Skye Bank Signs Deal to Curb Money Laundering

Daily Trust (Abuja) - January 2, 2007
Posted to the web January 3, 2007

By Bright Ewulu

Skye Bank Plc has signed a pact with Resourcery Limited, the Nigerian representative of an American firm, SAS Institute (Pty) Limited for the provision of anti-money laundering solutions.

This came shortly before the expiration of the December 31st 2006 deadline given by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to all banks in the country to implement anti-money laundering solution to guide against fraudulent transactions within the system. Executive Director of the Bank, Segun Oloketuyi, who represented the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Bank, Akinsola Akinfemiwa at the signing ceremony said he hoped the partnership between Skye bank and SAS was going to add value to all stakeholders.

"We on our own side are seeing this as an opportunity to pick a partner that can add value to our business and all stakeholders, and not just meeting the requirement of the regulatory authorities," the ED said. Oloketuyi called on the management of the software company to implement it in such a way that it will have local interface, adding that "since it is the consensus of our management to choose SAS, it shows that we trust your judgment, and we hereby look forward to a mutually beneficial relationship with you.

In his own remarks at the ceremony, General Manager in charge of Business Support Services of Skye Bank, Dotun Adeniyi, called on the software solution provider to see it as an opportunity to build a good relationship with the bank beyond the Anti-money Laundering Solution. According to him, "we want you to see this partnership as an opportunity to build a good relationship based on good reputation, which matters a lot," adding that relationship building and mutual respect should take the first place in everything.

Head of bank's Compliance and Control Unit, Wunmi Adenyi, whose department is hosting the solution said out of the eight companies that made presentations to the bank, four were short listed, out of which SAS was eventually picked as a result of its robust software solutions.

"Out of the eight vendors that made presentation to us, which was later pruned down to four, SAS was selected because we believe they have a robust solution with premium value accruing to our bank, which goes beyond the regulatory requirement" he said, adding that the framework will also make our audit and compliance review easier".

Speaking further, Adeniyi pointed out that with the implementation of the solution, reporting of spurious and fraudulent transaction will now be made promptly to regulatory authorities.

He added that "the solution has the capacity to generate alert of any fraudulent transaction, making easy the process of reporting as required by the Money Laundering Prohibition Acts (MLPA).

In his response to the Skye Bank Management, Executive Director, Resou-rcery Limited, the Nigerian sister company of SAS, Andrew Ejoh, thanked the management of the bank for the support given to the company, adding that the company's reputation precedes it and that it will not fail to deliver on all its promises. According to him, "the arrangement is aimed at detecting any spurious transaction and report back to the bank for proper action before the bank reports to the Economic and Financial Crime Commissions (EFCC)," adding that "this will also help banks to understand their customers better".

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