FITC Training - Case studies contd

The 2nd West Africa Financial Crime Prevention Seminar
This seminar was held in collaborations with the IFEX, UK, West Africa Bankers’ Association (WABA) at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel from in April, 2006. International experts such as Martin Grieves, Former Money Laundering Reporting Officer, Citigroup Europe, Africa and Middle East; Jos de Wit, Former Head of Compliance, ING Group; Steven Philippsohn, Senior Partner, Philipsohn Crawfords Berwald were featured on the programme.

The programme was designed to address fraud, terrorist financing and money laundering. A rundown of the participants list shows that many organizations were represented from different parts of Africa. A breakdown of the list include; Central Bank of Kenya; South African Reserve Bank; Standard Chartered Bank, Sierra-Leone; Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe; Interpol, Luanda; First Bank of Nigeria Plc. Others include Bankue Nationale Du Rwanda; Directeurde la Deal Board, Lome, Togo; IMF Resident Mission Office, Nigeria; Ecobank, Benin Republic; and Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation; Central Bank of Nigeria; Afulowd First Bank, Cameroon; ANIF, Gabon; CCEI Bank, Guinea; African Development Bank; Lesotho Revenue Authority; UTB, Sierra Leone.

Cash Handling, Automation and Management Seminar (CHAMS)
This is an annual seminar usually organized by FITC Training in collaboration with the CBN. The seminar provides a unique opportunity for all stakeholders in the Nigerian economy to discuss and chart the way forward on this important subject. The major objective of this seminar is to examine various problems associated with the management and handling of cash in Nigeria and develop an effective framework for minimizing cash-based transactions.

Since its inception in 2004, four editions have been held. Each of these editions attracted more than eighty (80) participants from various sectors of the economy. Decision reached at this seminar series have been of tremendous benefit to the CBN in charting the way forward with respect to currency management in Nigeria.

Continuous Education Programme for Directors
This is a special programme instituted by the FITC Training of Nigeria in 2005, in collaboration with the CBN. The need to emplace sound corporate governance in the Nigerian Banks forms the major thrust of the programme. Each year, bank directors are made to undergo a mandatory, two-day intensive training programme that dwell extensively on their role as directors. The enthusiasm with which the directors have received this programme, is a major revelation that they are eager to acquire superior knowledge, that would enable them add value to the businesses of their organizations.

The communiqués emanating from the discussions at these seminar series, have been extensively used by the CBN to further improve corporate governance in the financial service services sector.