Banks Managements Place Workers Under Surveillance To Avoid Whistle Blowing On Customers In Govt Fight Against Corruption
Banks have placed their workers under close watch following
intense pressure by ‘big’ customers on majority shareholders and directors to
monitor overzealous staff eager to take advantage of the whistle blowing
initiative of the federal government.
Account Officers from different banks told our correspondent the
development was to prevent them from squealing on classified accounts by
perceived looters and corrupt government officials.
One of them, who confirmed the
development off-record yesterday,
said: “The close monitoring is very intense now as everyone now watches each
other’s back.”
But a Senior Account Manager in one of the commercial banks in
Lagos, who also pleaded not to be named because of the sensitive nature of the
matter, said the development was not new.
He however admitted it has been increased lately.
According to him: “Monitoring of bank
workers is not new but it may be true we are more closely monitored today than
what obtained before the introduction of the whistle blowing initiative.
“That is understandable because there is
the feeling amongst the top management that some overzealous workers, in a bid
to take advantage of the initiative, may embarrass genuine prime customers.
“This may account for introduction of
measures to ensure no staff abuses his or her office to the detriment of the bank.
“Besides this internal precaution, bank
staff members and indeed banks are closely monitored by the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) in a bid to
recover looted funds,” he said.
Explaining how bankers are being
monitored, the top banker said: “Today, bank workers are closely monitored in
two ways; officially and unofficially.
“Officially, we are monitored by
regulators like the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
“There are also internal measures to ensure that bank members of staff do only
what they are supposed to do.
“This may differ from bank to bank. The
practice is real though I cannot say here that such measures were introduced
because the so-called big customers are mounting pressure on directors.
“Perhaps, because the anti-corruption
agencies know that bank workers occupy sensitive positions that may enable them
to collude with public funds looters, they are today monitored more closely
than politicians.”
Another top bank worker at the Corporate
Headquarters of one of the commercial banks in Lagos Island, who also pleaded
not to be named, gave our correspondent a more precise description of how
government agencies and bank management monitor workers in banks.
“Recently, we were asked to fill Assets
Declaration Forms. With this, they are able to monitor the progress rate of
each staff.
“Of course you know that with BVN,
everybody’s accounts can be traced easily. Even if a banker has ten accounts in
different banks, it would be easy to trace them.
“In anticipation of false claims of sudden
financial windfalls, they have also banned bank workers from betting. This
means that no banker, found with suspicious huge sums of bank balance or assets
he cannot ordinarily acquire with his income can claim to have become a
billionaire overnight through betting.”
The banker also explains that the
regulators have set out certain guidelines that will help monitor workers and
the banks themselves.
“One of the policies currently employed to
achieve this is the directive that all of us must regularly make Suspicious
Transaction Report (STR).
“Another is the requirement to report to
the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), the Nigerian arm of the global
Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) domiciled within the EFCC.
“These are part of the official monitoring
procedures in practice today. It is perhaps the increasing demand to abide by
these requirements that some workers are referring as undue monitoring,” he
said.
Efforts to get the confirmation of the CBN
could not yield result as the Acting Director of Communication of CBN, Isaac
Okoronkwo, neither picked his calls yesterday nor responded to our text
message.
But Chief Iheanacho Uko, a former banker
and Principal Partner of U & A Consulting Ltd, said there is nothing
strange with banks monitoring the activities of their staff.
Quoting the “general guidelines on
institutional policy of anti-money laundering/ combating,” he said there is
nothing wrong with banks initiating internal measures to ensure their staff
behave appropriately because “every financial institution is required to adopt
policies stating its commitment to comply with AML/CFT obligations under the
law and regulatory directives and to actively prevent any transaction that
otherwise facilitates criminal activity or terrorism.”
“Every financial institution is requested
to formulate and implement internal controls and other procedures that will
deter criminals from using its facilities for money laundering and terrorist
financing and to ensure that its obligations are always met.”
thenation
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