By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The first Capital Market Committee (CMC) meeting of 2025 in Nigeria will take place on Monday, May 19, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has confirmed.

One of the major issues to be discussed at the gathering is the activities of unregistered investment schemes in the country.

This is coming a few weeks after many Nigerians fell victims of a popular Ponzi scheme, Crypto Bridge Exchange (CBEX).

It was speculated that the organisation went away with funds belonging to Nigerian investors worth about $1 billion. Victims could not withdraw their money from their wallets with the platform.

At the CMC meeting taking place less than two weeks’ time, the capital market regulator will explore ways to better inform Nigerians on available authorised capital market products.

“The meeting will focus on critical issues affecting the market and ensure that those concerns are thoroughly addressed.

“Participants will also deliberate on the activities of unregistered investment schemes and explore ways to better inform Nigerians on available capital market products,” parts of the notice from SEC read.

In addition, the committee will deliberate on the implementation of the Investments and Securities Act 2025, recently signed by President Bola Tinubu.

Further, participants will brainstorm on strategies to drive capital market growth in line with Mr Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

Also, the meeting will review the market’s current regulatory landscape and develop strategies to attract investments, improve market efficiency, and protect investors.

The team will, equally, examine reports from technical committees, market infrastructures, and industry observers to guide discussions on emerging market trends and regulatory reforms.

Business Post reports that expected at the CMC meeting are capital market operators, trade groups, investment advisers, fund and portfolio managers, and custodians.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira fell further against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Monday, May 5 by 0.2 per cent or N4.22 to N1,606.91/$1 from the N1,602.69/$1 it closed in the preceding trading session.

Also, the Nigerian currency depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market yesterday by N4.43 to settle at N2,137.73/£1 compared with last Friday’s rate of N2,133.30/£1 and tumbled against the Euro by N1.51 to finish at N1,821.75/€1, in contrast to the previous trading day’s N1,820.24/€1.

The local currency was under pressure in the spot market on Monday as a result of mounting forex demand pressure amid the slowdown in the supply of forex into the market by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

In a twist of event, the Naira improved its value against the US Dollar in the parallel market yesterday by N5 to sell for N1,600/$1 versus the preceding trading day’s value of N1,605/$1.

As for the cryptocurrency market, it turned bearish on Monday as two relevant committees in the US House of Representatives have released a discussion draft of the legislation they hope will establish a regulatory regime for cryptocurrency in the US.

The draft details the public disclosures that crypto projects would be required to make. It also provides for digital assets developers to raise capital under the Securities and Exchange Commission’s watch, or to register with the CFTC to handle the trading of digital commodities.

The bill is meant to finally establish “clear lines” between the jurisdictions of the two U.S. markets regulators, a question that’s been a thorn in the side of US crypto businesses.

Litecoin (LTC) lost 3.5 per cent to sell at $87.05, Cardano (ADA) slumped by 3.3 per cent to $0.6636, Ripple (XRP) tumbled by 1.8 per cent to $2.13, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 0.7 per cent to $0.1707, Bitcoin (BTC) went down  by 0.5 per cent to $94,784.02, and Ethereum (ETH) depreciated by 0.4 per cent to $1,818.44.

On the flip side, Binance Coin (BNB) rose by 1.7 per cent to $598.92, and Solana (SOL) appreciated by 0.2 per cent to $146.96, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed the first trading session of the new week on Monday, May 5 in stalemate.

This meant that the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) remained unchanged at 3,289.66 points and the market capitalisation intact at N1.926 trillion at the close of trading activities.

The unlisted securities market ended the trading day with no single price gainer or loser, with the share prices of stocks on the platform finishing at their previous prices.

However, the activity chart witnessed movements, with the volume of securities transacted in the session significantly down by 99.8 per cent to 19,920 units from the 8.5 million units transacted in the previous trading session.

In the same vein, the value of securities transacted by the market participants went down by 94.5 per cent to N872,687 from N15.7 million, and the number of deals fell by 37.5 per cent to 10 deals from the 16 deals posted last Friday.

At the close of business, Impresit Bakolori Plc remained the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, trailed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 265.7 million units valued at N469.3 million, and Okitipupa Plc with 153.6 million units sold for N4.9 billion.

Equally, Okitipupa Plc was the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 153.6 million valued at N4.9 billion, followed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 18.3 million units sold for N699.7 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million.