The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has disclosed that there is no policy conflict between the capital market apex regulator and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over the ban placed on Cryptocurrency transactions in the banking industry.
SEC, in a statement shared via its site and seen by Nairametrics, explained that contrary to the perceived policy conflict from some quarters, it saw no such contradictions or inconsistencies.
In recognition of the fact that digital assets might have the full characteristics of investments as defined in the Investments and Securities Act 2007, it stated that trading in such assets falls under SEC’s regulatory purview, except proven otherwise.
It stated, “The primary objective of the Statement was not to hinder or stifle innovation, but to establish standards of ethical practices that ultimately make for a fair and efficient securities market.
“The SEC made its statement at the time, to provide regulatory certainty within the digital asset space, due to the growing volume of reported flows. Subsequently, in its capacity as the regulator of the banking system, the CBN identified certain risks, which if allowed to persist, will threaten investor protection, a key mandate of the SEC, as well as financial system stability, a key mandate of the CBN.”
In light of these facts, “we have engaged with the CBN and agreed to work together to further analyse, and better understand the identified risks to ensure that appropriate and adequate mitigants are put in place, should such securities be allowed in the future.”