Deposit Money Banks accounted for about 92 per cent of all Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) received by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) in 2025, even as overall suspicious transaction filings plunged by 48.8 per cent compared with the previous year.
The figures are contained in the NFIU’s 2025 Annual Report, which showed that reporting entities submitted 42,082 STRs during the year.
Of the total, Deposit Money Banks accounted for 38,715 reports, making them by far the largest source of suspicious transaction reports among the sectors monitored by the NFIU.
Other Financial Institutions submitted 2,185 STRs, while Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions filed 1,029. Capital market operators and insurance companies accounted for 104 reports, while Virtual Asset Service Providers, including cryptocurrency-related businesses, submitted 49.
The NFIU also received 41,716,214 Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) and 10,513 Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) in 2025.
Banks similarly dominated SAR filings, submitting 8,313 of the 10,513 reports received. Other Financial Institutions accounted for 1,816, capital market and insurance companies filed 295, while Virtual Asset Service Providers submitted 89.
The agency said its reporting framework covers threshold-based transactions, suspicious transactions and activities, as well as regulatory submissions relating to anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism financing and counter-proliferation financing.
Despite the high volume of regulatory reporting, STR filings fell sharply from 82,143 in 2024 to 42,082 in 2025, representing a decline of about 48.8 per cent.
Suspicious Activity Reports also dropped by about 55 per cent, falling from 23,364 in 2024 to 10,513 in 2025.
The report showed that banks accounted for 37,214,139, or about 89.2 per cent, of the 41.7 million Currency Transaction Reports received by the NFIU during the year.
Quarterly figures, however, showed a steady increase in STR filings by Deposit Money Banks, rising from 9,134 in the first quarter to 9,658 in the second, 9,891 in the third and 10,032 in the fourth quarter.
The NFIU also reported growing activity among Virtual Asset Service Providers. The sector recorded no STRs in the first half of 2025 but filed 17 in the third quarter and 32 in the fourth.
According to the agency, financial institutions are required under the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act to report transactions exceeding N5 million for individuals and N10 million for legal entities within seven days.
The NFIU also disclosed that reporting entities submitted 28.1 million reports involving Politically Exposed Persons during 2025, with Deposit Money Banks accounting for the overwhelming majority.
The agency said its increased monitoring and compliance activities were aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing framework.
The figures present a mixed picture of Nigeria’s financial reporting landscape in 2025: banks remained overwhelmingly dominant in suspicious transaction reporting, while the overall number of STRs and SARs received by the NFIU declined significantly from the previous year.
