goAML: Anti-money laundering Application for Reporting Entities

​goAML the global operations anti-money laundering solution, an application developed by the United Nations Office On Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as a strategic response to fighting financial crime including money laundering (ML) and terrorism financing (TF). It is an incorporated database with intelligence analysis features intended for use by Financial intelligence Units (FIUs) worldwide.

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Why did UNODC come up with the goAML concept?

1. to establish a global environment hostile to money laundering and terrorism financing
2. implement international best standards like FATF recommendations
3. standardized AML reporting platform

According to the UNODC over 14 countries have installed “goAML”, software namely Nepal, Bangladesh, Denmark, Mauritius, Azerbaijan, the Netherlands, South Africa, Bermuda, Mozambique, Palestine, Finland, Morocco, Tanzania and Nigeria

Nigerian- Brief History
As a way of enhancing the AML/CFT regime in the country, UNODC in 2005 appointed a project manager for the European Commission (EC) project in Nigeria to include provision of IT solutions to Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) including the FIU.
By 2006 the goAML XML schema version 1.8 was introduced to Nigerian reporting entities while by October the Currency Transaction Reporting (CTR) database was installed and tested in the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU). The NFIU asked commercial banks to make their information sharing system in particular, transaction reports of clients, be compatible with the new software.

More recently between 2013 to 2016, other sectors in the financial system have been brought on board. These are BDCs, Insurance operators (underwriters and brokers) and capital market operators - stockbrokers

The goAML system integrates 14 separate functions into one package. The functions include data collection, clean-up, workflow system, statistical reports, ad-hoc queries and matching, structured analysis, profiling, rule-based analysis, task assignment tracking and document management.  Other features include an intelligence file management system, data integration, data acquisition, charting, diagramming and an intelligence report writer.

 Why is it important to understand the goAML
As reporting entities in Nigeria, the law mandates that all reportable transactions (CTRs/STRs/SARs) be reported to the NFIU as part of its lawful duties in combating money laundering and terrorism financing. Reporting entities or financial institutions are also expected to have a robust AML/CFT programme. Some essential components of an AML/CFT regime should include

• A functional compliance culture which should be spelt out by the board and driven by the chief compliance officer (CCO) and his team
• Functional and effective regulatory relationship including the FIU; reporting entities are expected to have in place a client transaction monitoring and reporting system between them and the regulator/NFIU.

Furthermore the NFIU requires any financial institution willing to send reports to use the goAML portal. Therefore knowledge of the portal requirements and availability of correct client information (KYC and transaction details) are very important.

For more information please check the NFIU website or you could ask us at g-Log Consult for tutorials.