UK, Nigeria Deepen Partnership to Tackle Money Laundering, Illicit Finance

The United Kingdom and Nigeria have strengthened cooperation against illicit financial activities following high-level engagements in the UK focused on financial intelligence, public-private partnerships and cross-border collaboration.

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

A major highlight of the visit was an engagement with the UK’s Joint Money Laundering Intelligence Taskforce (JMLIT), a public-private partnership that brings together law enforcement agencies, regulators and private-sector institutions to identify and respond to financial threats.

Working sessions with JMLIT and UK Finance provided opportunities for both countries to exchange expertise on financial intelligence, information sharing and joint approaches to tackling illicit financial activities.

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

Built around trust, governance and technology-enabled cooperation, JFIC is expected to improve the capacity of stakeholders to identify and respond to money laundering, fraud, terrorism financing and other illicit financial activities.

The delegation also met with senior officials from the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA), UK Financial Intelligence Unit (UKFIU), HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and HM Treasury.

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

Chris Chalmers, Deputy Director of the Illicit Finance and Anti-Corruption Department at the FCDO, said Nigeria and the UK had a longstanding partnership in tackling illicit financial flows.

He said the activities undermine both countries’ economies and support the operations of transnational criminal networks. Chalmers added that the recent engagements had strengthened cooperation on shared threats, global standards and public-private partnerships.

He also reaffirmed the FCDO’s commitment to supporting Nigeria in operationalising the JFIC initiative.

Bakari said the growing connections between illicit financial networks made international cooperation essential, adding that Nigeria was strengthening its financial intelligence system through initiatives such as JFIC.

She said the partnership with the UK would provide opportunities to exchange expertise and develop practical solutions that address Nigeria’s priorities, strengthen its financial system and turn intelligence into measurable results.

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

Brown said the NCA would continue supporting Nigeria’s development of JFIC by strengthening intelligence sharing, improving operational effectiveness and helping prevent and disrupt financial crime.