Capital Market Operators (CMOs) have been given the deadline of April 30, 2021, for the renewal of their licences by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
This was disclosed by the Director-General of the SEC, Lamido Yuguda, to journalists on Thursday.
Yuguda assured the public of the SEC’s support of Fintechs in the capital market space, stating that the commission was “accommodative”.
He said that the “rationale for this is to ensure that operators in the market are fit and proper at all times and to strengthen the supervision and monitoring activities of the Commission. The renewal process is electronic and the deadline for 2021 renewal is 30th April, 2021.
“The Commission recognizes the impact of FinTechs on capital market activities, and wishes to assure the public that we remain accommodative of this development. We shall continue to engage players and support them to cooperate lawfully.
“Our aim is to ensure the delivery of safe products and services without stifling innovation, I therefore encourage FinTech firms to approach the Commission for due registration and desist from operating illegally.
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“In the area of cryto assets, you know that with the recent prohibition by the CBN of access to Nigerian banking accounts by the crypto exchanges that market has been disrupted.
“The truth of the matter is that while the SEC has issued guidelines in September 2020 aimed at regulating this market, for now, for all intent and purposes because these exchanges do not have access to commercial banking accounts in Nigeria, the market now does not exist.”
CMOs were urged to “refrain from providing any form of support to unregistered entities operating unlawfully within our market, as such action would not be condoned. Furthermore, we urge CMOs to improve on their level of compliance, timeliness, and correctness of disclosures and other filings made to the Commission.”
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