By Modupe Gbadeyanka
For those who have tried to open a corporate bank account in Nigeria, they must have come across the word ‘SCUML.’ In some cases, without this document in your possession, banks cannot complete the account opening process for you.
SCUML is an acronym for Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering and it is issued by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
If someone had in the past told you that obtaining the SCUML certificate costs a lot and difficult to obtain, we are here to let you know that all you need is a computer, internet access and a scanner to scan your documents, which must be less than 2MB and merged as one file.
SCUML is charged with the responsibility of monitoring, supervising and regulating the activities of Designated Non-Financial Institutions (DNFIs) in line with the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act ML(P)Act 2011 and the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) 2011.
Who are Designated Non-Financial Institutions?
Section 25 of the ML (P) Act defines DNFIs as dealers in jewellery, cars and luxury goods, Precious stones and metals, Real estate, Estate developers, Estate surveyors and Valuers, Estate Agents, Chartered accountants, audit firms, tax consultants, clearing and settlement companies, hotels, casinos, supermarkets, Dealers in Merchanised Farming equipment and machineries, Practitioners of Mechanised farming, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) or such other businesses as the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment or appropriate regulatory authorities may from time to time designate.
Does SCUML registration attract any fee?
No! Registration can be done on the SCUML website at NO COST.
What is a suspicious transaction?
A suspicious transaction is a transaction in which a DNFI suspects that it may involve proceeds of any of the offences specified in the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011 as amended, regardless of the value involved; or
(a) Appears to be made in circumstances of unusual or unjustified complexity; or
(b) Appears to have no economic justification or lawful objective; or
(c) Gives rise to suspicion that it may involve financing of terrorism.
STR has no threshold; it could be based on any amount. This report should be submitted to the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) solely.
What is Currency Transaction Report?
A CTR is a report that Designated and Non-Financial Institutions (DNFIs) are statutorily required to file with the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) on transactions that involve amounts in excess of N10,000,000 (Ten Million Naira) and N5,000,000 (Five Million Naira) for corporate bodies and Individuals respectively. However, based on the Memoradum of Understanding between Special Control Unit against Money Laundering and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, DNFIs are to report CTRs directly to SCUML.
What is Cash Based Transaction Report? This is a report that Designated Non-financial Institutions are required to file with the Special Control Unit against Money Laundering (SCUML) for each deposit, purchase or sale and other payments , by a customer to the DNFI, which involves cash transaction in excess of $1,000 or its equivalent in Naira or other currencies.
Aduragbemi Omiyale 
Adedapo Adesanya
I do SCUML Registrations. You can reach me on [email protected]
Can someone print out the form and feel it manual and go to your nearest office and summit it?
Pls where is scuml office located in ibadan
c/o EFCC Ibadan Office,
16, Rev Oyebode Crescent Iyaganku
GRA, Ibadan
Good day .please our is association and we don’t do any transaction is only to save our money but the bank is asking of scuml even to withdraw our money, does this affect association?
How are we supposed to enter an account number for the account we are presently trying to open.
I want to register but their site is not recheable.
PLEASE I WANT TO REGISTERED FOR SCUML ONLINE AND THEY ARE ASKING ME OF ACCOUNT NUMBER WHICH I DON HAVE YET, WHAT WILL I DO PLEASE
I HAVE REGISTERED ONLINE OVER 2 MONTHS , THIS AFTERNOON I SAW A MAIL THAT YOUR APPLICATION HAVE BEEN REJECTED SO I DO KNOW WHAT TO DO NOW
You can request to know the reason behind the decision to reject your application
It’s a pity . The portal is not user friendly at all.
If we wanna do stuff in this country we should make it as easy and convenient as possible .
We like too much of control and interpersonal Buggy here .
Let the system be a flow through one for whatever it’s worth.
We kill our FDI inflow with undue strictures
Please how can I resubmit my online application because I attached a wrong documents in the previous application submitted and I have been trying to submit the correct documents but not successful
Hello, I will advise you to visit their office, if possible, to correct the error.
I have done registration online, send several emails and no single reply, call phone numbers, not going through for over a month now- this is really frustrating for those of us not in Abuja or Lagos. To make it worse the bank won’t allow you to access your account without it.
After registration, what is the next step to obtain the certificate from EFCC
i have done the registration over 5 month ago now, they have not call me for my certificate. and i did not have access to my company account, what should i do.
If you are in Lagos, you can get in touch with the EFCC office.
Have done the registration, getting to bank I was asked for the certificate? Pls how can I get the certificate?
A certificate should have been issued to you when completed the registration just like your CAC registration.