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Banks must comply with regulations — DataPro

By on February 11, 2015

The Founder and Managing Director, DataPro Limited, Mr. Abimbola Adeseyoju, has urged banks in the country to see compliance with laws and regulations as a necessary tool for the survival of their businesses.

He said compliance officers should see themselves as custodians of the reputation of their institutions.

Adeseyoju, in his presentation at the meeting of the Committee of Chief Compliance Officers of Banks in Nigeria, said the CCCOBIN had provided “a very strong platform for the realisation of the much-needed co-operation, collaboration and co-ordination in   anti-money laundering/combating financing of terrorism compliance in the country.”

“Compliance can be a very frustrating job, but surely it has its rewards. I have come to see compliance as the needed armour against the storms of the industry,” he said.

Compliance, according to him, is not really for the good times, but for when things go bad.

He highlighted reputational, business, regulatory and statutory risks as reasons for compliance.

On reputational risk, Adeseyoju said, “This is one risk that cannot be quantified in naira and kobo. What provisions are we going to make for reputational risk? The only provision is compliance.

“Our brand is only as strong as our reputation. The events of August 2009 are still fresh. Compliance or the public perception of some operators moved them notches up to the top of the ladder.”

Speaking on business risks, he said, “When the storm comes, we cannot properly profile our customers. Their loans are not serviced, and the customers do not care and simply walk away.

“That is why we do all the know your customer, customer due diligence, enhanced due diligence, record keeping, mandatory and suspicious reporting and put in place processes, procedures, policies and programmes.”

He said there was need to insulate banks and other financial institutions against the activities of criminals, adding that this would protect the economy from avoidable crises.

“To achieve this, laws and guidelines are made, which have to be enforced. It is therefore expected that compliance practitioners should obey the law and comply with regulations,” said Adeseyoju.

 

[Punch]