Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,EFCC, Mrs Farida Waziri has urged Nigerians to see the recent attempt to sanitize the banking industry as a patriotic duty rather than attach ethnic sentiment to it.“It’s very unfortunate that years after independence we are still playing the primordial ethnic card. Whenever something does not suit our purpose, we try to mislead others. This is very unfortunate”, the anti-graft agency boss observed in her remarks when she hosted members of the Association of Stockbroking Houses of Nigeria,(ASHON) led by its Chairman Alhaji R. O Yussuff, in her office.
According to her, the recent revelations about the rot in the banking industry should be a matter of concern to every patriotic Nigerian. “What we are seeing now through the banks is a lot of revelations that give one food for thought, that every concerned Nigerian should be worried that this sort of thing is coming from these institutions at this point in time when all hands should be on deck to drive the economy toward the vision 20-2020 and the seven point agenda of President Umar Yar’Adua. You find that there are so many speculations about what we are doing, the most often mentioned that I have come across in the papers is that it is a Northern agenda. But if you look at the charges, that we have filed against them in court, you wonder what this agenda is. We should be able to analyze situation and draw valid conclusions, not sentiments”,she stated.
The stock market, Waziri said is a platform for the development of the economy but bemoaned the situation where some practioners attempt to sabotage the economy. “What the current investigation of banks has revealed is the active connivance of stockbroking firms to manipulate share prices and distort the market. It beggars imagination that the exposure of a single stockbroking firm to the banking industry is over N90 billion”, she said adding that “the general trend has been for banks to offer loans to stockbroking firms and these loans are then used to manipulate the share prices of the bank and mop up the shares of the same bank prior to a public offer.” She stressed that “concurrent with the share manipulation is that looted funds were laundered through the stock market by share acquisition.”
“The EFCC will also insist that stockbroking firms comply with other provisions of the money laundering (Prohibition) Act 2004, such as the ones requiring them to know their customers, take proper documents of identification, and set up anti-money laundering structures. All defaulting firms will be prosecuted,” she said.
In his remarks, Alhaji Yussuff said the essence of the visit was to explore ways of achieving a fruitful relationship with the Commission. “We want to also take the advantage to explain it to you how we brokers have been operating. And we do this professionally, there are rules and guidelines for us to follow and I can assure you that as an association we would support everybody following the rules and doing the business in a professional manner. If there are areas of infractions we would support to remedy the situation,” he said. On the issue of money laundering, he said the association was aware of it and making effort to tackle it. “Money laundering is an area we are quite aware of. One of the ways we operate is that as a stockbroking firm, we usually ask our client not to pay cash to us. They pay into our bank account and we are required to make return and that way we are complementing whatever is being done by banks in anti-money laundering efforts.” He however said the association would be receptive to any new idea on how to tackle the issue of money laundering.
Oladipo Williams, President, Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers said as patriotic citizens the association aligns itself with the Commission in combating money laundering. “We are 100 per cent available to give the support,” Williams said adding “We have this nation as ours except those who have dual nationality. For us as professionals, we do play within the rules, that is why we come together to regulate the individual practitioners and the various houses.”
“I can say we are here to work with you because some of these cases can be intricate. You need to understand the nitty-gritty of the business before you can actually punish or reprimand any offender. We are aware that in any profession there might be bad eggs, we are not ruling that one out. We are not going to cover any bad egg. We are here to expose to you, how our profession functions which we believe you will be useful in investigating and punishing those who erred in the discharge of their professional duties,” he said.
Other members on the team include Kayode Falowo, Chairman, Association of Issuing Houses of Nigeria, Mazi O. C. K. Unegbu, legal adviser, ASHON, Madubuike Emeka, Vice Chairman, ASHON, and Kogis Jonathan Luka, Assistant Secretary, ASHON.
By Media & Publicity
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