UK, Nigeria deepen cooperation against financial crimes

By Favour Ulebor, Abuja

The United Kingdom and Nigeria have strengthened their strategic partnership to combat illicit financial flows, money laundering, fraud and terrorism financing through enhanced financial intelligence sharing and cross-border cooperation.

The renewed cooperation followed high-level engagements in the UK involving Nigerian financial authorities, regulators and stakeholders from the banking and telecommunications sectors, according to a joint statement issued on Tuesday.

The Nigerian delegation was led by the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Hafsat Bakari, and included representatives of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) and Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

A major highlight of the visit was an engagement with the UK’s Joint Money Laundering Intelligence Taskforce (JMLIT), a public-private partnership involving law enforcement agencies, regulators and private-sector institutions.

The engagement provided an opportunity for both countries to exchange expertise on financial intelligence, information sharing and strategies for identifying and responding to illicit financial activities.

The discussions also supported Nigeria’s plan to establish the Joint Financial Intelligence Cooperation (JFIC), a Nigerian-led initiative aimed at strengthening collaboration between government institutions and private-sector stakeholders.

The initiative is expected to enhance the country’s capacity to detect and respond to money laundering, fraud, terrorism financing and other financial crimes through technology-driven cooperation and information sharing.

During the visit, the delegation also met with representatives of the National Crime Agency (NCA), UK Financial Intelligence Unit (UKFIU), HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and HM Treasury.

The discussions covered operational cooperation, trade-based money laundering, emerging financial threats, the UK’s Financial Action Task Force (FATF) presidency and opportunities for stronger international collaboration.

Speaking on the partnership, Deputy Director, Illicit Finance and Anti-Corruption Department, FCDO, Chris Chalmers, said illicit financial flows harmed both countries’ economies and enabled the activities of transnational criminal networks.

He said the engagements had helped consolidate cooperation on shared threats and global standards, including public-private partnerships.

“The FCDO will continue to partner with Nigeria to operationalise the Joint Financial Intelligence Collaboration,” Chalmers said.

Also speaking, Bakari said the increasingly interconnected and transnational nature of illicit financial networks made international cooperation essential.

She said Nigeria was strengthening its financial intelligence architecture through initiatives such as JFIC, which would enable public institutions and private-sector partners to work more effectively together.

According to her, the partnership with the UK would provide opportunities to exchange expertise and develop practical solutions that reflect Nigeria’s priorities, strengthen its financial system and translate intelligence into measurable results.

Similarly, NECC Fraud Threat Lead at the NCA, Marc Brown, said the partnership between the NCA’s National Economic Crime Centre (NECC) and NFIU reflected their shared commitment to protecting economic prosperity through a stronger response to financial crime.

Brown said the NCA would continue to support Nigeria’s development of JFIC by deepening intelligence sharing, improving operational effectiveness and strengthening efforts to prevent and disrupt financial crimes.

The two countries reaffirmed their commitment to expanding intelligence sharing and public-private partnerships to protect the integrity of their financial systems.

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