The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Nigeria has hinted of the development of new guidelines aimed at enhancing the licensing, registration, and screening processes for digital and virtual asset service providers (VASPs).
The commission, in a Notice to the effect stated that the measures were crucial in preventing individuals with criminal backgrounds from participating as operators in the nation’s capital market.
The SEC clarified that the new guidelines will complement the existing regulatory framework, reinforcing its commitment to ensuring market integrity and investor protection.
The Notice also recalled the commission’s past initiatives, particularly its treatment and classification of digital assets released in September 2020, which delineated its regulatory oversight over various types of digital tokens, and reiterated the key provisions outlined in the existing guidelines issued in May 2022.
According to the Commission, these provisions encompass general requirements for VASPs, the issuance of digital assets as securities, the operation of digital assets offering platforms (DAOPs), digital assets exchanges (DAX), and digital asset custodians (DACs).
In April last year, the capital market regulatory commission introduced procedures for the implementation of targeted financial sanctions on individuals and entities associated with terrorist activities.
In addition, the SEC also unveiled a new Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT), and Countering Proliferation Financing (CPF) onboarding manual to guide the licensing, registration, and ongoing screening of beneficial owners of digital and virtual asset service providers (VASPs).
It stated that the objective of the regulatory measure was to prevent individuals with criminal backgrounds from being registered as operators within the capital market.
Following its recent collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) , SEC stated that additional comments were being incorporated into the rules that will soon be exposed to the market for comment before final approval.
It clarified: “For ease of reference relevant Rules and Regulations issued by SEC on the regulation of Digital Assets and VASPs have been collated for use by potential applicants and the public.”
