What is a Suspicious Transaction Report
A suspicious transaction report (STR) is a type of report that must be submitted tby financial institutions (FI) and Designated Non-Financial Institutions (DNFI) if there are reasonable grounds to suspect that a financial transaction that occurs or is attempted during their activities is related to the commission or the attempted commission of a money laundering or terrorism financing offence
Why is an STR required?
STRs have been instrumental in enabling law enforcement to initiate or support major money laundering or terrorist financing investigations and other criminal investigations. Information provided in STRs assists the relevant agency in identifying emerging trends and patterns associated with financial crimes thereby providing vital intelligence to law enforcement agencies and valuable feedback to financial and designated non-financial institutions (FI & DNFIs).
Under the Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism legal framework (2011), financial and designated non-financial institutions are required to file a Currency Transaction Report (Section (2) Money Laundering Prohibition Act (MLPA) 2011), a Suspicious Transaction Report (Section (6) MLPA 2011) and Suspicious Report on Financing Of terrorism (Section (14) MLPA 2011.)
Who is the Relevant Regulatory Agency
The regulatory agency which receives STRs is the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU). NFIU was established under sections 1(2) and 12 (2) of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission Act. It is an autonomous unit within the Central Bank of Nigeria to provide credible financial intelligence against money laundering, terrorism financing and related crimes.
When is an STR required to be filed?
STRs are required to be filed when the RE has reasonable grounds to suspect that there are reasonable grounds to suspect the transaction is related to the commission of an ML/TF offence.
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