Aduragbemi Omiyale
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Amid the crackdown on cryptocurrency exchanges by the Nigerian government, the nation’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has hinted at plans to introduce new anti-money laundering guidelines for crypto platforms, which intend to operate in the country.
Recall that a few days ago, the Nigerian authorities detained executives of a popular crypto trading platform, Binance, over allegations of currency manipulation and financial terrorism.
The company was accused of using its platform to manipulate the value of Naira in the foreign exchange (FX) market, adding that it was being used by criminals to move huge funds.
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Yemi Cardoso, had claimed that about $26 billion was suspiciously moved through Binance in one year.
It is not clear if the detained representatives of Binance, who flew into the country to honour an invitation extended to them, have been released, but the platform has stopped the use of the local currency to trade digital currencies on its app.
Apparently working to tighten its regulations on virtual assets trading in Nigeria, the SEC said it has developed new guidelines to enhance the licensing, registration, and screening processes for digital and virtual asset service providers (VASPs).
According to the disclosure, these new rules will complement the existing regulatory framework, reinforcing its commitment to ensuring market integrity and investor protection.
It noted that these fresh procedures focus on Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT), and Countering Proliferation Financing (CPF).
The capital market regulator said the AML, CFT, and CPP onboarding manual is to “ensure that criminals are not registered as operators in the capital market.”
In addition, it will clearly state the 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).
SEC stated that these rules were designed in collaboration with the CBN and would “soon be exposed to the market for comment before final approval.”
