Authors: Jackie Harvey
This paper is based on a case study of the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) framework as applied in Nigeria and has arisen from a cross-disciplinary (comprising of a team of academics and practitioners) funded research project that considers beneficial ownership as part of the global fight against corruption and money laundering (the AC Project). The AC Project is focused on Nigeria, a country that whilst described as the “powerhouse” of West Africa, is also evaluated as weak for transparency and accountability by Africa Integrity Indicators. The AC Project pays particular attention to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendations, 24, 25 dealing with transparency and beneficial ownership of legal persons and arrangements, and 38 covering Mutual Legal Assistance, asset freezing and confiscation. In addition, countries are required to maintain and share accurate and up to date information regarding the legal and beneficial ownership of companies and trusts. This part of the AML framework forms a focus of our case study.