Union Bank Advises on Fraud Prevention

Mr. Samuel Ayininuola, executive director, commercial banking – south, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, has charged employees of banks in the country to shun fraudulent practices to enhance and sustain public confidence in the banking industry.
He made the appeal at an in-plant seminar on Dealing with the Monster: Fraud in Financial Institutions, organized by the Union Bank Chapter of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) in Lagos recently.
Mr. Ayininuola, who represented the bank’s group managing director/Chief Executive, Dr Barth Ebong, at the event, highlighted the adverse impact of frauds on banks such as the reduction in their profit margins.
He noted that the institute was built on integrity and urged all members of the Institute in Union Bank to bring integrity and professionalism to bear in all their actions and decisions so as not to create opportunities for fraudulent practices in the bank.
Mr. Emmanuel Esezebor, director of membership of CIBN commended the bank for developing manpower, not only for the bank, but also the industry as a whole.
He said the bank had long been encouraging its staff to register and write the institute’s examinations as a way of instituting professionalism and ethics in its operations, adding that as at date the bank had the highest number of chartered bankers in Nigeria.
While advocating for more of such training opportunities in the bank, Esezebor stressed the need for operators to join force in the fight against fraudulent practices in the banking industry.
Mr. Dennis Ayerume, chairman of the bank’s chapter of CIBN, stressed that fraud awareness education was important to staff members in the bank and said the in-plant seminar was the first among others planned to enhance the knowledge-base of staff regarding frauds.
He stated that participants at the seminar stood to gain immensely as they would be exposed to the current dimensions in frauds, locally, within the bank and internationally “so they will be guided in designing strategies to stem the trend”.