SEC In Talks With CBN Over Crypto Market Regulation

The Securities and Exchange Commission has disclosed that it is in discussion with the Central Bank of Nigeria on how to better understand and regulate the cryptocurrency market in the country.

Lamido Yuguda, director-general of SEC, made this known at the first quarter capital market committee (CMC) virtual conference, on Thursday.

This is coming after CBN had in February 2021, barred deposit money banks and other financial institutions from doing business with cryptos and other digital assets.

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SEC said on Thursday that it would continue to engage players in the financial technology space and support them to operate lawfully in a bid to ensure the delivery of safe products and services without stifling innovation.

“It became imperative for the commission to issue this notice for the protection of investors and to preserve the sanctity of the Nigerian capital market as only registered capital market operators are permitted to intermediate in the Nigerian capital market and only through approved channels,” he said in a press briefing at the end of the Capital Market Committee meeting.

He said, “We do not want any unregulated entity to participate in the market because if there are issues, it becomes very difficult to resolve. I therefore encourage fintech firms to approach the commission for due registration and desist from operating illegally.

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Yuguda, however, pointed out that SEC had always provided support to Fintechs and had invested so much in developing a framework to support their operations.

Yuguda said that the market had been disrupted by the apex bank's prohibition on access to Nigerian bank accounts by crypto exchange.
“In all other areas, nothing has changed, but in the area of crypto assets, you know that with the recent prohibition by the CBN on access to Nigerian bank accounts by crypto exchanges, that market has been disrupted. And the truth of the matter is that while the SEC had issued guidelines in September 2020 aimed at regulating this market, for now for all intents and purposes, because these exchanges do not have access to commercial bank accounts in Nigeria the market for now does not exist,” he said.
According to him, the commission recognises the impact of FinTechs on capital market activities, and he assured the public that SEC would remain accommodative of this development.