BY SAM OTUONYE

The Securities and Exchange Commission has said that the Investments and Securities Act 2025 introduces key reforms aimed at boosting investors confidence, strengthening market oversight and aligning Nigeria’s financial markets with global best practices.

Director General of the SEC, Dr. Emomotimi Agama, stated this while giving insights into the new law in Abuja, weekend.

Dr. Agama said the ISA 2025 is a transformative step for the capital market as some of the key reforms includes the formal recognition of virtual assets such as cryptocurrencies as securities, bringing them under the regulatory oversight of the Commissiom.

“The Act also expands the definition of securities to cover investment contracts, ensuring the digital assets 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 Organization of Securities Commission (IOSCO), is a significant effort at driving foreign investors into the Nigerian economy” he stated.

The Director General stated that the major highlights 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 bedeviled investors for a very long time” he said.

Speaking on the activities of Ponzi schemes, Agama said there will be stricter sanctions and penalties for fraudulent people who indulge in Ponzi schemes all over the country as the SEC’s watchfulness will now be higher.

“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 Nigerian capital market. The Commission will intensify clamp downs 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, happy again to be part of the market, bringing succor to them when it is needed, and providing an opportunity for us to democratize wealth creation in this country” Agama stated.

The DG emphasised that engagement with stakeholders is a priority, because the understanding of the Act is as good as implementing the act.

“Aside the implementation team, we have a sensitization 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, everyone that needs to know more about this law will be engaged because at this point, ignorance of the law is not an excuse” he stated.

The SEC DG also commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his unwavering support and expressed appreciation to the National Assembly as well as the Minister of Finance and the Minister of State for Finance.

The President assented to the ISA 2025 on March 25, 2025 thereby repealing the ISA 2007.