Overview of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022

On 12 May 2022, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari as part of the efforts to strengthen the AML/CFT regime in Nigeria signed into law the following Bills; (i) Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Bill, 2022 (ii) Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Bill, 2022 (iii) Proceeds of Crime (Recovery and Management) Bill, 2022. These laws seek to address the issues arising from Nigeria’s poor ratings in the Mutual Evaluations by the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF” ) and provide measures for effective implementation.

The Money Laundering (Prevention & Prohibition) Act 2022 ( the “Act”) is one of the laws recently enacted as part of the efforts to strengthen the AML/CFT regime in Nigeria to address the issues and weaknesses that had occasioned Nigeria’s poor ratings in the Mutual Evaluations by the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”) and to provide measures for effective implementation of the recommendations.

The Act repeals the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011 and provides a more comprehensive legal and institutional framework for the prevention and prohibition of money laundering in Nigeria.