Banks, fintech operators and other reporting entities submitted 42,082 Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) in 2025 as financial institutions faced tighter anti-money laundering compliance requirements.
The figures are contained in the NFIU’s 2025 Annual Report, which showed that the agency also received 41,716,214 Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) and 10,513 Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) during the year.
“During the review period, the NFIU received a total of 41,716,214 CTRs, 42,082 STRs, and 10,513 SARs,” the report stated.
The NFIU said it receives threshold-based disclosures, suspicious transaction and activity reports, as well as regulatory submissions relating to anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism financing and counter-proliferation financing compliance.
The agency works with the Central Bank of Nigeria, National Insurance Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission and Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering to ensure reporting entities comply with relevant laws.
Banks Account For Most Suspicious Reports
Deposit Money Banks remained the largest source of STRs in 2025, accounting for 38,715 filings, or about 92 per cent of the total.
Other Financial Institutions submitted 2,185 STRs, while Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions filed 1,029.
Capital market operators and insurance companies recorded 104 reports, while Virtual Asset Service Providers, including cryptocurrency service providers, submitted 49 STRs.
Banks also accounted for most SARs, filing 8,313 of the 10,513 reports received by the NFIU.
Other Financial Institutions submitted 1,816 SARs, while capital market and insurance firms filed 295. VASPs accounted for 89 reports, while no SAR was recorded from the DNFBP sector.
Financial institutions also submitted more than 41.7 million CTRs during the year.
Deposit Money Banks accounted for 37,214,139 reports, representing about 89.2 per cent of the total. Other Financial Institutions filed 4,212,466, while capital market and insurance companies submitted 289,296. VASPs filed 313 CTRs.
Bank Reports Rose Through 2025
Quarterly data showed a steady increase in STRs filed by banks.
The number rose from 9,134 in the first quarter to 9,658 in the second quarter, 9,891 in the third quarter and 10,032 in the fourth quarter.
Bank CTRs also increased throughout the year, rising from 7,040,493 in the first quarter to 8,197,292 in the second, 10,885,247 in the third and 11,091,107 in the fourth quarter.
Among Other Financial Institutions, STRs stood at 451 in the first quarter and 432 in the second before rising to 719 in the third and falling to 583 in the fourth.
SARs from the sector increased from 453 in the first quarter to a peak of 569 in the third quarter, before falling to 399 in the fourth.
Crypto Sector Reporting Increases
The NFIU report also recorded growing reporting activity among Virtual Asset Service Providers.
No STRs were filed by VASPs during the first half of 2025, but the sector submitted 17 in the third quarter and 32 in the fourth quarter.
VASPs also filed 28 SARs in the first quarter, 12 in the second, 24 in the third and 25 in the fourth.
Their CTR filings emerged in the second half of the year, with 103 reports in the third quarter and 210 in the fourth.
PEP Reports Hit 28.1 Million
Reporting entities submitted 28,133,909 Politically Exposed Persons reports in 2025.
Deposit Money Banks accounted for most of the filings, recording 7,263,557 in the first quarter, 5,658,079 in the second, 6,235,585 in the third and 8,225,572 in the fourth.
Other Financial Institutions recorded a sharp increase from 12 reports in the first quarter to 617,286 in the fourth quarter.
Capital market and insurance institutions filed 28,561 PEP reports during the year, while VASPs recorded none.
The NFIU also disclosed that its Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions Division conducted joint on-site examinations of 29 reporting entities across the real estate, casino, precious metals and stones, and consultancy sectors in the Federal Capital Territory.
The exercise resulted in “20 new registrations on the RapidAML portal and subscriptions to NIGSAC” and the filing of 1,029 STRs, according to the report.
Suspicious Reports Fall From 2024
Despite the increase in threshold-based transaction reporting, STRs and SARs declined sharply compared with 2024.
STRs fell by 40,061, from 82,143 in 2024 to 42,082 in 2025, representing a decline of about 48.8 per cent.
SARs also dropped by 12,851, from 23,364 to 10,513, a decrease of approximately 55 per cent.
CTR filings, however, increased by 15,896,495, rising from 25,819,719 in 2024 to 41,716,214 in 2025, an increase of about 61.6 per cent.
PEP reports also increased by 6,667,621, from 21,466,288 in 2024 to 28,133,909 in 2025, representing growth of about 31.1 per cent.
The contrasting figures point to a significant change in reporting patterns, with financial institutions recording substantially higher threshold-based and PEP disclosures while suspicious transaction and activity reports declined.
CBN Pushes Automated AML Systems
The developments come as the Central Bank of Nigeria moves to modernise anti-money laundering practices across the financial system through more intelligent and automated solutions.
In a circular dated May 20, 2025, addressed to regulated financial institutions, the CBN said its proposed standards were designed to respond to the growing digitalisation of Nigeria’s financial system and the increasing sophistication of financial transactions.
The framework is intended to improve efficiency, strengthen detection accuracy and support compliance with Nigerian regulations and international standards established by the Financial Action Task Force.
Under the proposed regime, financial institutions would be required to deploy intelligent AML systems capable of real-time transaction monitoring and anomaly detection.
The systems are expected to use artificial intelligence and machine learning for behavioural pattern recognition, risk scoring and adaptive learning to identify potentially suspicious activities, including large cash deposits, cross-border transactions and cryptocurrency dealings.
The standards also require AML systems to integrate with core banking applications, customer onboarding platforms and internal transaction processors.
Automated reporting to the NFIU is another key requirement, with AML platforms expected to generate STRs, CTRs and Foreign Currency Transaction Reports as required by law, alongside dashboards for internal and external compliance monitoring.
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