Banks, fintechs flag 82,143 transactions in one year – Report

Banks, fintech companies, insurance firms, capital market operators and other reporting entities flagged a total of 82,143 suspicious transactions to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit in 2024 amid intensified efforts to combat money laundering, terrorism financing and other illicit financial activities.

The 2024 Annual Report obtained by Sunday PUNCH showed that the agency also received 25.82 million Currency Transaction Reports and 23,364 Suspicious Activity Reports within the review period.

The report, published on Friday by the NFIU, stated, “During the review period, the NFIU received a total of 25,819,719 CTRs, 82,143 STRs, and 23,364 SARs.”

The agency explained that it receives threshold-based disclosures, suspicious transaction reports, suspicious activity reports and other regulatory submissions aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism financing and counter-proliferation financing framework.

According to the report, the NFIU works closely with regulatory agencies, including the Central Bank of Nigeria, the National Insurance Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering, to enforce compliance with relevant laws and regulations.

An analysis of the report showed that Deposit Money Banks accounted for 73,531 suspicious transaction reports, representing about 89.5 per cent of all STRs received in 2024.

Other Financial Institutions submitted 5,442 reports, while capital market operators and insurance firms filed 1,796 reports. Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions accounted for 1,013 reports, while Virtual Asset Service Providers filed 361 suspicious transaction reports.

The NFIU noted that reporting entities are legally required to file suspicious transaction reports whenever there is reason to believe that a transaction may be linked to money laundering, terrorism financing, proliferation financing or any other criminal activity.

It stated, “Section 7 of the MLPAA requires all reporting entities, including financial institutions and designated non-financial institutions, to submit a report where there is a determination that the activity or transaction is suspicious and possibly linked to money laundering, terrorist financing or other illegal activity.”

Further analysis revealed a steady rise in suspicious transaction reporting by banks throughout the year.

Deposit Money Banks filed 14,744 STRs in the first quarter, 17,031 in the second quarter, 20,052 in the third quarter, and 21,704 in the fourth quarter, reflecting increasing surveillance and monitoring activities across the banking sector.

Other Financial Institutions also recorded growth in reporting, with filings rising from 842 in the first quarter to 1,908 in the fourth quarter.

The report further disclosed that the NFIU received 23,364 Suspicious Activity Reports during the year. Banks again dominated the filings with 19,873 reports, followed by Other Financial Institutions with 2,071 reports and capital market and insurance operators with 1,382 reports.

Beyond suspicious transaction filings, reporting entities submitted 25.82 million Currency Transaction Reports, with banks accounting for 23.16 million reports, representing approximately 89.7 per cent of the total submissions.

Other Financial Institutions filed 2.53 million reports, while capital market and insurance companies submitted 127,726 reports.

Under existing regulations, financial institutions are required to report transactions exceeding N5m for individuals and N10m for corporate entities to the NFIU within seven days. In addition, all inbound and outbound transfers above $10,000 must be reported within 24 hours.

The volume of currency transaction reports filed by banks increased from 5.10 million in the first quarter to 5.48 million in the second quarter, before peaking at 6.30 million in the third quarter and moderating slightly to 6.28 million in the final quarter.

The report also highlighted extensive monitoring of Politically Exposed Persons, revealing that the NFIU received 21.47 million PEP-related reports in 2024.

Deposit Money Banks submitted the overwhelming majority of the reports, recording 3.64 million filings in the first quarter, 4.01 million in the second quarter, 4.75 million in the third quarter, and 8.73 million in the fourth quarter.

Capital market and insurance institutions filed 54,280 PEP reports, while Other Financial Institutions submitted 231,747 reports.

As part of its compliance and enforcement efforts, the NFIU carried out 1,317 off-site examinations and 98 on-site examinations across several states, including Abuja, Lagos, Kwara, Kaduna, Rivers, Enugu, Borno and Sokoto.

The agency said it also introduced new guidelines on the identification, verification and reporting of suspicious transactions to improve the quality of intelligence submissions and reduce false-positive reports.

According to the report, the guidelines are designed to strengthen risk-based monitoring systems and improve the detection of money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing activities.

The NFIU further disclosed that it onboarded 483 reporting entities onto its reporting platforms during the year and registered 1,317 entities on the NIGSAC portal.

In addition, 44,256 Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions were enrolled on a simplified reporting platform jointly developed with SCUML to improve compliance among sectors such as real estate, casinos, legal practitioners, accountants, dealers in precious metals and trust service providers.

The intelligence agency identified several emerging financial crime risks from its analysis of reports received during the year.

These included frequent cash withdrawals from state and local government accounts, the use of corporate entities as intermediaries in virtual asset transactions, abuse of personal bank accounts for business activities to evade taxes, and the diversion of public funds through third-party entities.

The report also raised concerns about the use of illegal Bureau de Change operators to launder funds on behalf of politically exposed persons and some public institutions.

It warned that emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence tools, online file converters and digital platforms, could expose institutions to fraud, data breaches and regulatory violations if not properly managed.

The NFIU further noted that terrorist groups were increasingly exploiting dealers in precious metals and precious stones to finance their activities, while some operators in the sector conducted transactions through personal accounts and operated without mandatory SCUML certification.

According to the agency, such practices heighten the risks of money laundering, corruption, tax crimes and fraud.

In support of law enforcement efforts, the NFIU disclosed that it disseminated 3,030 proactive intelligence reports and 1,866 reactive intelligence reports to relevant authorities in 2024.

Corruption topped the list of offences linked to intelligence reports with 1,958 cases, followed by fraud (1,022), stand-alone money laundering (705), criminal tax offences (385) and drug trafficking-related offences (294).

The report further revealed that terrorism financing accounted for 239 intelligence reports, while human trafficking and migrant smuggling generated 114 reports.

The agency also strengthened international collaboration by receiving 84 intelligence requests from foreign financial intelligence units and making 109 requests to overseas counterparts.

In addition, it received 143 spontaneous intelligence disclosures from foreign agencies, some of which were shared with domestic institutions to support ongoing investigations and prosecutions.

The latest figures come as the Central Bank of Nigeria moves to modernise anti-money laundering systems across the financial sector.

In a draft framework issued to regulated financial institutions in May 2025, the apex bank proposed the deployment of intelligent anti-money laundering systems capable of real-time transaction monitoring, anomaly detection and automated regulatory reporting.

The proposed framework requires financial institutions to integrate artificial intelligence and machine learning tools into compliance operations to strengthen behavioural analysis, risk scoring and detection of suspicious activities, including large cash transactions, cross-border transfers and cryptocurrency dealings. (Punch)