OPUDU, Derek Okubokeme
Department of Banking & Finance/Accounting
University of Africa, Toru-Orua (UAT), Sagbama L.G.A., Bayelsa State, Nigeria.
derekopudu@gmail.com; okubokeme.opudu@uat.edu.ng
OGOUN, STANLEY
Department of Accounting
Niger-Delta University Wilberforce Island, Bayelsa State, Nigeria.
stanleyogoun@ndu.edu.ng; stanelyogoun@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
This study interrogates money laundering containment efforts of the Nigerian State via the instrument of
Suspicious Transactions Reports (STR) and how this affects capital formation. This is predicated on the
endemic nature of money laundering as a financial crime in the country. The paper deployed the Nigerian
Money Laundering Prohibition Act (2011) and FATF (G7 Government) as a premise for the study. The work
is hinged on financial surveillance theory. Ex-post factor research design was adopted. Quarterly data from
1Q 2010 to 4Q 2019 was sourced from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Scheme (NIBSS), Nigeria
Financial Intelligence Unit Activity Reports (NFIU), and CBN Statistical Bulletins. The descriptive
statistical data was subjected to regression inferential statistics, based on the espoused model of the study. It
panned out that STR has positive significant effect on capital formation in Nigeria. Hence, the study
recommends that traction should be given to STR instruments. Also, effective mechanisms of anonymity
should be deployed to protect reporting staffers’ risk of exposure to scale up reporting output.
Keywords: capital formation, financial trust, money laundering, suspicious transaction, surveillance theory