SPECIAL CONTROL UNIT AGAINST MONEY LAUNDERING (SCUML)

EXPLANATORY NOTE

BENEFICIARY

S/N

Serial Numbering

DESIGNATED NON FINANCIAL INSTITUTION (DNFI)

Name of reporting entity

CLIENT/SOURCE

Provide information on the source of vehicle as follows:

  1. A person or company who bringsautomobile/ Jewelleriesto a car / jewellery dealerfor sale ( i.e. third party)
  2. A person or company that provides capital for a business
  3. A Person or company from whom cars are purchased from by DNFIs

NAMES/NAME OF COMPANY (LAST NAME, FIRST NAME, MIDDLE)

Last name of individual or name of the entity that conducted the transaction

FIRST NAME

First name of the costumer, if individual

MIDDLE NAME

Middle name of customer, if individual

ADDRESS (SUITE NO, STREET, CITY,STATE)

Number, Street, city and state of the customer/company/client/source

OCCUPATION/BUSINESSS LINE

Occupation or business line of company/customer/client/source

TELEPHONE NUMBER

The Customer or organisation’s telephone number

IDENTIFICAATION OR RC NUMBER

The number on the customer’s identity card or the RC number of the entity conducting transaction

TYPE OF IDENTIFICATION

Specify the mode of identification

  • Driving license
  • National ID card
  • International Passport

DATE OF BIRTH OR DATE OF INCORPORATION

Individual’s date of birth or entity’s date of incorporation. This should be in dd/mm/yyyy format.

NATIONALITY

The Customer or entity’s country of origin

TRANSACTION DETAILS

NAME OF ITEM(s)/NATURE OF SERVICE

Specify the type of vehicle purchased or the type of services rendered

QUANTITY

Total number of items involved in the transaction

TRANSACTION DATE(dd/mm/yyy)

Specify the date which the transaction took place

LOCATION OF TRANSACTION

Indicate the state / town / area where the transaction took was carried out.

MODE OF PAYMENT (CHEQUE, CASH, WIRE etc)

Specify the type of instrument involved in the transaction eg cash, cheque wire transfers etc

AMOUNT AND CURRENCY

The value of the item and the type of currency used in effecting the payment ( eg. Naira, Dollar etc)

AGENT / REPRESENTATIVE

NAMES / NAME OF COMPANY (Last name, first name, middle)

Specify the name of the individual or company in which the agent is representing in the transaction

ADDRESS (suites no, street, city state)

Specify the Street name and number of the Agent representing the individual or company in the transaction

TELEPHONE NUMBER(s)

Specify the Agent’s telephone number.

NBA Wins Suit On Disputed Anti-money Laundering Provisions by Crownofwealth: 10:05am On Dec 22
The Nigerian Bar Association has won a suit challenging the enforcement of some aspects
of the provisions of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011 dealing with legal
practitioners.
The suit was instituted before the Federal High Court in Abuja against the Attorney-
General of the Federation and the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Justice Gabriel Kolawole in his judgment declared as invalid, unconstitutional and illegal
the directive by the Special Control Unit against Money Laundering that lawyers should
report to it certain transactions relating to their clients.
The directive was said to be hinged on the provisions of Section 5 of the Money
Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011.
The defendants in the suit are the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Central Bank
of Nigeria.
The court held its in judgment that sections 5 and 25 of the MLA sought to impose
sanctions on legal practitioners, who flouted the provisions contrary to the provisions of
the Legal Practitioners Act, the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners, and
Section 192 of the Evidence Act.
In an originating summons dated March 15, 2013, the plaintiff had asked the court to
delete legal practitioners from the definition of Designated Non-Financial Institutions as
contained in Section 25 MLA.
The plaintiff had also sought an order of perpetual injunction restraining the CBN from
seeking to implement its circular reference FPR/CIR/GEN/VOL.1/028 dated August 2, 2012
in relation to legal practitioners.
It had also sought an order of perpetual injunction restraining the Federal Government,
acting through Special Control Unit against Money Laundering, the National Financial
Intelligence Unit, the EFCC or otherwise howsoever from seeking to enforce the provisions
of Section 5 of the MLA in relation to legal practitioners.
Justice Kolawole agreed with the NBA that the SCUML was not a juristic person, being the
creation of the Ministry of Trade and Commerce.
He added that even the Ministry of Trade and Commerce was also not a body known to
law, adding that the Federal Executive Council could not by a resolution confer on SCUML
a juristic personality.
He noted that there was no connection between the SCUML and legal practitioners, adding
that it was improper for the SCUML to seek to exercise oversight powers over the plaintiffs.
He further held that even if any oversight powers were to be conferred on any ministry, it
ought to have been the Ministry of Justice.
Justice Kolawole observed that the sanctions sought to be imposed on lawyers had
already made provisions for the manner in which a legal practitioner could be disciplined
where his conduct fell below the prescribed standards of the rules guiding the profession.
The court held that since the Minister of Trade and Commerce neither issued the Call to
Bar certificate nor entered the name of any legal practitioner in the Roll, he had no right to
disqualify any legal practitioner.
He also held that legal practitioners could not be categorised “traders” because they never
had “customers.”
The disputed Section 5 (1) of the MLA 2011 had read, “A Designated Non-Financial
Institution whose business involves the one of cash transaction shall (b) prior to any
transaction involving a sum exceeding US$1,000 or its equivalent, identify the customer by
requiring him to fill a standard data form and present his international passport, driving
licence, national identity card or such other document bearing his photograph as may be
prescribed by the ministry.”
Section 5(1)(c) directs all such DNFIs to “record all transactions under this section in
chronological order, indicating each customers surname, forenames and address in a
register numbered and forward to the ministry.”
The Central Bank of Nigeria had also in its Circular No. FPR/CIR/GEN/VOL.1/028 of 2nd
August, 2012, classified legal practitioners as DNFIs in line with the MLA.
The SCUML is an agency currently under the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment with
operational linkages to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The defendants had argued that the objective of the MLA and the SCUML was not to
monitor the legal practitioner but to monitor their clients who might have the potential to
commit crimes.
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Re: NBA Wins Suit On Disputed Anti-money Laundering Provisions by Crownofwealth: 10:06am On Dec 22