·‘Big’ customers mount pressure on owners

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.”


http://thenationonlineng.net/whistle-blowing-bank-workers-close-watch/

No place for the wicked in Nigeria.

I am so happy this is happening. This and the BVN thing, will to some extent make the looters have a rethink.

So, I read that so many bank accounts with large funds have been dormant since the introduction of bvn


I believe everybank introduced kyc policy those accounts needs to be traced


Afterall no fraud can happen in any banking institution without bank CMD's, Managers knowing about it

This cannot prevent whistleblowers from working. Truth is some whistleblower settlement is far more compensation than they can ever get from a bank that can sack them anytime. Whistleblowing is the new yahoo yahoo.

Federal government must pass laws to penalize banks who punish whistleblowing employees or take action to prevent whistleblowing. In a way that protects the employee financially.

Ok

Blow the whistle mehn and let's see dem yansh

Really?

All the aforementioned measures are not new....

CBN is beaming more searchlight on commercial banks right now, especially on Know Your Customer (KYC) issues which includes BVN.

Compliance/Regulatory Units of most banks have become stricter in view of the fines/penalties that CBN is slamming on commercial banks left, right and centre.

D drums of revolution are being beat loudly in Nigeria
D youths want revolution
All dat remains now is 4 someone to step up and lead d youths
I challenge u to be dat leader 2day

E no eaay

Good policies

Bankers and civil servants are more corrupt than politicians

Any banker wey wan blow whistle should contact Mii

Let's strike a deal

Good

Z

hardywaltz:
why

Lol. No looting can be done without CBN or commercial banks. Not new abeg

ALAYORMII:
Any banker wey wan blow whistle should contact Mii

Let's strike a deal

please how much do they sell whistle?

ALAYORMII:
Any banker wey wan blow whistle should contact Mii

Let's strike a deal

You just provided a solution.

CR77:

You wan blow whistle??

Guess the govt should even give whistle blowing the right legal backing. Just saying

Seriously?

baby124:

You just provided a solution.

We can do it codedly


We just share the proceeds



Gaskiya

baby124:
This cannot prevent whistleblowers from working. Truth is some whistleblower settlement is far more compensation than they can ever get from a bank that can sack them anytime. Whistleblowing is the new yahoo yahoo.

Federal government must pass laws to penalize banks who punish whistleblowing employees or take action to prevent whistleblowing. In a way that protects the employee financially.

The whole idea is to ensure that some junior or middle-level banker does not get access to the hidden loot of a "big customer".

Initially, what is being done is to restrict access to Customer bank Account, based on your job description but majorly based on your level.

Now, l am sure it has even become more stringent and certain accounts have been frozen and only a select group of bank staff can access them on the banking software.

Bank Executives are part and parcel of the criminality going on and EFCC needs to focus more attention on the top management of banks, from Branch Manager upwards.
This is where the Rot starts from.

yns4real:
·‘Big’ customers mount pressure on owners

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.”


http://thenationonlineng.net/whistle-blowing-bank-workers-close-watch/

yns4real:
·‘Big’ customers mount pressure on owners

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.”


http://thenationonlineng.net/whistle-blowing-bank-workers-close-watch/

Blow whistle and die

Political thieves Dont put suspicious huge monies in banks no more. They Have learnt How to Exchange. If u Have huge money u Dont want to keep in bank ping me i Will give u ways and yes of cource u Will pay me.

banking sector is a corruption institute

Dem go eventually leave corrupt politicians and other looters of govt. funds wey dem suppose pursue start to dey cast G boys.... snitch

So someone cannot blow whistle in peace again?

What's tha business?

It's a welcome initiative, in as much I support the whistle blowing operation, it's imperative the bankers are closely monitored before they disclose wealth that was gotten genuinely.