Head, Compliance and Internal Control - CHARIS MICROFINANCE BANK
(2025-06)
- Responsible for identifying, measuring, monitoring, reporting and mitigating operational risks, while ensuring internal control and compliance policies and frameworks are well established within the organization.
- Ensure compliance with AML/CFT, KYC, regulatory, and statutory requirements.
- Identify control gaps, recommend improvements, and implement measures to minimize operational risks and losses.
- Ensured adherence to compliance standards and timely resolution of cases, including KYC/CDD Reviews and Investigation, AML Sanctions Screening, Anti-Bribery and Corruption Surveillance, Transaction Monitoring/STR and SAR Reporting, and AML/CFT/CPF Reviews
- Monitoring of regulatory/legislative changes, advise management, and ensure adherence to covenants and obligations.
- Maintain strong relationships with regulators while ensuring timely and accurate compliance reporting.
- Train, mentor, and supervise subordinates/staff to build capacity and ensure effective execution of control and compliance activities that strengthens the compliance culture.
- Prevention of service disruptions and reputation risks through proactive risk management.
- Analysis of data to strengthen governance and decision-making.
- Ensure effectiveness of controls, policies, and compliance with regulations.
- Lead timely submission of regulatory returns to regulators (CBN, NDIC, FIRS, LIRS).
- Oversight of the Internal Control and Compliance framework across the Bank.
- Enforcing of policies to safeguard assets and ensure regulatory compliance.
- Review of reports/transactions for accuracy and transparency.
- Safeguard customer trust by ensuring compliance with regulations and internal controls.
- Promote a culture of compliance to enhance customer confidence in the Bank.
Team Lead, KYC/AML/CFT/CDD Reviews, Regulatory Surveillance and Financial Crimes Monitoring - ACCESS BANK PLC
(2021-08 - 2024-04)
- Led a team of regulatory analysts and financial crimes investigators, ensuring adherence to compliance standards and timely resolution of cases, including KYC/CDD Reviews and Investigation, AML Sanctions Screening, Anti-Bribery and Corruption Surveillance, Transaction Monitoring/STR and SAR Reporting, and AML/CFT/CPF Reviews.
- Implementation of all the Compliance Program in line with the overall business objective.
- Served as the primary point of contact responsible to the respective Strategic Business Units (SBUs), stakeholders, regulators, Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs), Government Relations Offices/Officers Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and all support functions on all matters relating to Compliance, AML/CTF, Anti-Bribery and Corruption.
- Ensured effective risk assessment, processes, controls and procedures to meet obligations of internal policies, international and local regulations, laws and requirements for proper decision making and business successes.
- Onboarding reviews of prospective customers and employee for any criminal records and negative reports in line with the Bank's compliance and internal control policies and standards.
- Developed and implemented strategies for regulatory surveillance and financial crimes monitoring, enhancing detection capabilities and minimizing risks.
- Continuous monitoring of customer and employee behavior for any potential risk or evidences of unethical behaviors. Implemented new transaction monitoring rules, resulting in 20% increase in the detection of suspicious activities.
- Carried out regular reviews of monitoring processes and tools, identifying areas for improvement and implementing enhancements to reduce false positive alerts by 15% through optimization of monitoring algorithms.
- Assisted with Business Conduct Office investigations in WA, as needed.
- Periodic compliance visits within the region to re-enforce annual ethics and compliance training and adherence to the Code of Conduct and Compliance Policy.
- Provided training and guidance to team members on compliance, ethics and conduct, regulatory requirements and investigative techniques, provision of AML/ATF workshops and education through AML programs and assessments thereby increasing team efficiency by 25% through the targeted training programs.
- Collaborate with internal stakeholders, such as legal, compliance, and risk management teams, to address regulatory issues and implement best practices, resulting in 90% satisfaction rate from internal audit reviews.
- Ensured staying ahead of regulatory changes, including monitoring CBN circulars and all regulatory pronouncements affecting banking operations, ensuring compliance with 100% accuracy and implementing changes promptly.
Lead, Branch Compliance and Internal Control Monitoring and Reporting - ACCESS BANK PLC
(2017-02 - 2021-08)
- Supervised and ensured compliance with the bank's policy and regulatory standards, including AML/CFT/KYC regulations, across all branches, achieving 100% compliance rate and reducing regulatory infractions by 20%.
- Coordinated the team of compliance monitoring and reporting team members, improving team efficiency by 15% through regular training and performance evaluations.
- Ensured appropriate adoption and implementation of the Bank's strategic objective by the Cluster/Regional Compliance Officers.
- Implementation of appropriate policies and processes to manage identified risks in Branches by way of avoidance, acceptance, reduction and sharing according to the identified risk rating of the Branches.
- Carried out daily oversight reviews of Branches' General Ledger accounts, identifying and rectifying discrepancies promptly, resulting in 10% reduction in accounting errors.
- Implementing a zero-tolerance policy for fraud and regulatory infractions in branches, leading to 30% decrease in successful fraud attempts and avoiding sanctions.
- Implemented sound independent control policies, procedures and standards to mitigate all sources of risks (financial and non-financial) in the regions.
- Served as the liaison point for all branch related control activities or issues and as an issues resolution contact for control issues noted and escalated from the branches.
- Ensured adoption of all applicable FATF recommendations in the Branches.
- Collaborated with internal and external stakeholders, and all other functional units in the Bank to establish a synergy in work relationship towards compliance effectiveness and ultimate achievement of the Bank's objectives.
- Provided periodic training and coaching to the Branch Control Officers and Cluster/Regional Compliance Officers.
- Ensured daily transaction processing adheres to the bank's policy and procedure guidelines, maintaining accuracy rate and reduced transaction processing/turn-around time.
Team Lead, Subsidiary Conduct and Compliance – Group Office - ACCESS BANK PLC
(2012-02 - 2017-01)
- Monitored banking activities in the Subsidiaries, ensuring compliance with Group and Country regulations, and carried out monthly audits, achieving 98% compliance rate with regulatory requirements.
- Ensured compliance of banking operations at the Subsidiaries in line with Group and Country regulations, and implemented new compliance procedures, reducing regulatory violations by 20%.
- Provided regular reports to management on compliance status and recommended actions for improvement, and presented quarterly compliance reports, resulting in 80% approval rate from management.
- Collaborated with internal and external auditors to address compliance issues and implement corrective actions, resulting in 90% reduction in repeat findings.
Team Lead, Compliance and Internal Control Department - INTERCONTINENTAL BANK PLC
(2006-06 - 2012-01)
- Carried out daily audits of branch General Ledger accounts, ensuring accuracy and compliance, resulting in 98% error-free rate and 10% reduction in audit discrepancies.
- Oversight of daily transaction processing to ensure adherence to the bank's policies and procedures, achieving 99.5% compliance rate and reducing processing errors by 15% through staff training and process improvements.
- Implemented a robust monitoring and reporting system for identifying suspicious transactions, contributing to 30% increase in the identification and reporting of suspicious activities.
- Developed and maintained relationships with regulatory authorities, resulting in 90% satisfaction rate in regulatory interactions and inspections.
Funds Transfer Officer/ Central Clearing Representative - LEADBANK PLC
(2003-08 - 2006-02)
- Processed daily funds transfers and reconciled transactions, achieving high accuracy rate in transaction processing.
- Communicated with internal and external stakeholders to resolve payment discrepancies, resulting in 20% reduction in outstanding payment issues.
- Monitored and analyzed daily transaction volumes, identifying and resolving anomalies, leading to 15% increase in transaction efficiency.
- Implemented new procedures for fund transfers, reducing processing time by 25% and increasing overall transaction throughput by 30%.
- Ensured compliance with regulatory requirements and internal policies related to funds transfers, maintaining 100% compliance rate with audit and regulatory standards.
Branch Operations Supervisor - CHARTERED BANK PLC
(2001-06 - 2003-07)
- Supervised daily branch operations, including customer transactions and cash management, achieving 98% accuracy rate in cash handling and 95% customer satisfaction rate.
- Oversight of the branch's compliance with regulatory requirements and internal policies, resulting in zero regulatory violations during annual audits.
- Carried out performance evaluations for branch staff, leading to 20% improvement in employee engagement and productivity.
- Implemented new customer service procedures, resulting in 15% reduction in customer wait times and 10% increase in customer satisfaction scores.
- Coordinated with the marketing team to promote branch products and services, leading to 25% increase in new account openings and 15% increase in loan applications.
- Carried out regular audits of branch processes and procedures, identifying areas for improvement and implementing changes that led to 15% increase in operational efficiency.
