The Securities and Exchange Commission has set up an implementation team for the new law, Investments and Securities Act 2025, to ensure the achievement of the core of the law.
According to a statement from the SEC on Sunday, the Director-General, Dr. Emomotimi Agama, revealed this while giving insights into the new law in Abuja.
President Bola Tinubu in late March gave presidential assent to the Investments and Securities Act 2025, thus repealing the ISA 2007, which had governed capital market operations before now.
Agama, highlighting the stricter penalties for Ponzi scheme operators, said the SEC’s watchfulness will now be higher.
He stated, “We are going all out for anyone that we find culpable in this act, making sure investors are safe and confident in making investments in the Nigerian capital market. The Commission will intensify clampdowns on Ponzi schemes in 2025 now with the passage of the bill.
“We have an implementation team already set up to be able to deal with every page of the ISA 2025, so making sure that we achieve the goal of the new law and making sure that investors are confident and happy again to be part of the market, bringing succour to them when it is needed, and providing an opportunity for us to democratise wealth creation in this country.”
The DG emphasised that engagement with stakeholders is a priority because the understanding of the Act is as good as implementing the Act.
He said, Aside from the implementation team, we have a sensitisation team, and indeed, we have also introduced a podcast to ensure that the message gets to every corner of this country. So, we will be reeling out content that will be unwrapping the ISA 2025 so that the general public will be fully aware. We will engage with stakeholders from all perspectives: investors, public companies, operators, law enforcement agencies, the judiciary, the executives, and everyone that needs to know more about this law will be engaged because at this point, ignorance of the law is not an excuse.”
Agama reiterated that the ISA 2025 is a transformative step for the capital market, as some of the key reforms include the formal recognition of virtual assets such as cryptocurrencies as securities, bringing them under the regulatory oversight of the Commission.
He continued, “The Act also expands the definition of securities to cover investment contracts, ensuring the digital asset operators, exchanges and service providers comply with investors protection standards. The new Investments and Securities Act is a milestone development because of the various changes that it has introduced into the Nigerian capital market. The Act helps the SEC project itself as a frontline regulator globally.
“And by that, it means that being a signatory ‘A’ member of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions is a significant effort at driving foreign investors into the Nigerian economy.”
The Director-General stated that the major highlight of the bill is investor protection beyond any other thing, adding that the essence of regulation is about making sure that integrity and transparency are maintained in any market.
“This will endear the Nigerian capital market to international investors. And so, for us, the ISA 2025 has given us more powers to be able to deal with these challenges that have bedevilled investors for a very long time,” he concluded.