ANTI-GRAFT BODY REMOVES NIGERIA FROM 'BAD' BOOK
Published: Sunday, 25 June, 2006, 10:27 AM Doha Time

ABUJA: President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday welcomed the removal of Nigeria from the International Financial Task Force (FATF) list of non-co-operating countries in the fight against money laundering. The international anti-corruption body announced in Paris on Friday it had removed Nigeria from a list of countries that do not co-operate in the fight against money laundering. Obasanjo said the move would boost the country's international profile, months after Nigeria settled its debts with the Paris Club. "Nigerians will now find it easier to transact business with foreign partners as existing restrictions on their ability to engage in financial transactions outside the country will be removed," he said. Obasanjo commended members of the inter-agency committee who crafted the national anti-money laundering strategy and worked with the FAFT to ensure that Nigeria met its criteria for removal from the list. "Nigeria was removed from the list of countries and territories that are non-co-operative in the international community's efforts to fight money laundering," FATF had announced in Paris. "It now has an operational financial intelligence unit and has taken steps at the highest levels to fight corruption," it said, adding that "the FATF will continue to monitor the situation of Nigeria over the next year." The 33-member FATF is an inter-governmental body that aims to develop and promote policies to counter money-laundering and terrorist financing.

Its secretariat is with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris. – AFP