Capital Market

SEC licenses NG Clearing as first CCP in Nigeria

Published

5 years ago

Jun 16, 2021

Banjo Olaniran

CBEX: SEC, EFCC to prosecute influencers, celebrities promoting fraudulent investments The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has warned that celebrities, influencers, and bloggers who promote unregistered investment schemes will face prosecution, as the commission moves to enforce provisions of the newly enacted Investments and Securities Act (ISA) 2025. In a statement released on Sunday in Abuja, SEC Director-General Emomotimi Agama said, “The law also covers influencers and bloggers who promote fraudulent schemes, with clear penalties, including imprisonment.” “We are using this opportunity to warn such individuals to immediately desist from promoting unregistered entities,” he added. Citing the recent collapse of CBEX, a digital investment platform accused of defrauding Nigerians of over N1.3 trillion, Agama said, “The collapse of CBEX underscores the urgency of our crackdown. We are shutting down their operations, and the promoters will face the full weight of the law.” He urged Nigerians to remain vigilant and always verify investment opportunities with the commission before committing funds. “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” he warned. Agama reiterated the SEC’s commitment to protecting investors and enhancing market integrity. “We have dealt with similar schemes in the past and will continue to do so, leveraging the powers of the ISA 2025 to safeguard investors and develop the capital market,” he said. He also disclosed that the commission has taken proactive steps to prevent future occurrences. “The SEC has also established dedicated departments to monitor market activities and conduct inspections aimed at detecting irregularities early,” Agama said. “These proactive measures are designed to prevent large-scale frauds like CBEX from recurring.”

SEC licenses NG Clearing as first CCP in Nigeria

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Nigeria’s apex capital market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has granted NG Clearing Limited (NG Clearing) registration to perform the function of a central counterparty with effect from June 7, 2021.

This registration now permits NG Clearing to clear and settle exchange traded derivative products – making NG Clearing the first CCP in Nigeria.

Speaking on the issuance of the licence, the Chairman of NG Clearing, Mr. Oscar Onyema, said: “NG Clearing will deliver an unparalleled CCP experience for the Nigerian financial and capital markets and will optimisme the deployment of its resources to achieve long-term value creation for its stakeholders using a stateof- the-art risk management framework, which complies with global best practices for mitigating settlement risk.”

He added that the company’s main role was to improve the soundness and safety of the Nigerian financial market by delivering best-in-class post-trade services that manage counterparty credit risk and reduce systemic risk by interposing itself as a guarantor to both parties in a transaction, thus ensuring the successful execution of derivatives and other trades from various trade points in Nigeria.

Managing Director of NG Clearing, Mr. Tapas Das, said: “NG Clearing shall be playing a key role in the financial market ecosystem in the region, upholding stability and safety of the marketplace, through efficient and timely settlement of derivative trades.

“The aim is to strengthen the country’s investment environment through solutions that systematically reduce risks, enhance operating efficiency, and minimise costs for all market participants, thereby serving as a catalyst to national development.”

Das stated that the company had sufficient financial resources, including settlement guarantee fund, to cover participants’ risk exposures.