SALIENT PROVISIONS AND INNOVATIONS IN THE MONEY LAUNDERING (PREVENTION AND PROHIBITION) ACT 2022

The Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022 (“the Act”) is modelled on the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011 (As Amended). The Act secured the assent of the President Muhammadu Buhari on 12^th May 2022 repealing the old law, Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011 and now includes provisions which reflect the current and modern realities in the digital financial world. The new Act contains 31 sections as opposed to 25 sections of the 2011 Act. Section 18 of the Act expressly prohibits money laundering in Nigeria. It stipulates the various offences that accumulate to form money laundering and the penalty for such contraventions.

The objectives[1] of the Act are as follows: to provide for an effective and comprehensive legal and institutional framework for the prevention, prohibition, detection, prosecution and punishment of money laundering and other related offences in Nigeria; to strengthen the existing system for combating money laundering and related offences; to make adequate provisions to prohibit money laundering; to expand the scope of money laundering offences and provide appropriate penalties ; and to establish the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering under the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for effective implementation of the money laundering provisions of the Act in relation to the designated non-financial businesses and professions.

This article will examine the new and innovative provisions in the new Act as well as other salient provisions.