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Lawyers are better positioned to fight money laundering and terrorism financing: NBA

NBA PRESIDENT SAYS LAWYERS ARE BETTER POSITIONED TO FIGHT MONEY LAUNDERING AND TERRORISM FINANCING;

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NBA PRESIDENT COMMISERATES WITH IKEJA BRANCH ON THE DEMISE OF FORMER CHAIRMAN, MR YINKA FAROUNBI
Lawyers are better positioned to fight money laundering and terrorism financing: NBA

NBA will not allow third-party regulatory control of the legal profession; it Announces the passage of RULES OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT 2023.


The President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr Yakubu Chonoko Maikyau, OON, SAN, has stated that the fight against money laundering and terrorism financing is a legal fight that must be fought within the framework of extant legislation and that there is no profession better positioned to be at the vanguard of this fight than the legal profession.

Mr Maikyau made this remark in Abuja while attending the ongoing National AML/CFT/CPF Compliance Retreat organized by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).
 
According to the NBA President, “The narrative being propagated or possibly sponsored that members of the legal profession constitute a stumbling block to the fight or are the most readily available to advance such illicit transactions is totally false.

It is untrue and merely calculated to malign the profession’s image, knowing that the fight cannot succeed without the involvement and cooperation of the legal profession. The legal profession has no record of complicity to warrant or justify such sweeping generalization.

As a matter of fact, those who feed such narrative are the ones who either work against or ignore the proper measures needed to be deployed or adopted to succeed in this fight.”
 
Recall that the NBA President, in a recent Notice to lawyers, has insisted that the NBA will self-regulate its members about money laundering and terrorism financing concerns but that the “NBA will not allow or in any way subscribe to any arrangement that will subject the legal profession to the regulatory control of 3rd parties.

Therefore, while intimating the retreat of the passage of Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC) for Legal Practitioners, 2023, Mr Maikyau noted that in recognition of the dangers of money laundering and terrorism financing on the integrity of the legal profession, the NBA has ensured that the Part 2 of the new Rules incorporate Guidelines and Rules on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Financing of Terrorism for Legal Practitioners.

Lawyers are better positioned to fight money laundering and terrorism financing: NBA

 
Mr Maikyau noted that the new Rules will come into effect on 1 January 2024 to allow time for sensitization, advocacy and the setting up necessary structures for implementing the Guidelines.

He said: “I invite NFIU to partner with the NBA in organizing training and workshops on this guideline to achieve smooth and effective implementation. In straightforward cases of breach, I call on NFIU to tarry on its activities targeted at law firms and concentrate on educating our members, based on the new RPC, to build a culture of compliance.

The 2023 Annual General Conference of the NBA coming up from 25 August to 1 September 2023, themed ‘Getting it Right: Charting the Course for Nigeria’s Nation Building’, allows us to lay the foundation for this partnership. We shall have a session on the AML/CTF/CPF Guidelines and Regulations. I now invite NFIU to attend, participate and sponsor its members to the Conference.”
 
Akorede Habeeb Lawal
National Publicity Secretary, NBA

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