By Adedapo Adesanya
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has warned that amid rising digital adoption, youths should be mindful of fraudulent investments that are Ponzi schemes and make conscious efforts to invest in legitimate capital market products.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Global Money Week 2023, the Director of the Market Development Department of the commission, Mr Nestor Ikeagu, said partaking in illegal investments could affect the growth of their financial future.
Global Money Week (GMW) is an annual awareness-raising campaign on the importance of ensuring that young people from, an early age, are financially aware and are gradually acquiring the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviours necessary to make sound financial decisions and ultimately achieve financial well-being and financial resilience.
The SEC director said that the official theme for GMW 2023, Plan your money, plant your future, focuses on sustainability and raising awareness on the implications of individual financial behaviour not only on one’s financial future but also on the environment and society.
Mr Ikeagu stated that there are various products available in the capital market that could appeal to the youths, urging them to plan, save and invest in the capital market.
He said, “It is also important to educate these young minds that as they plant their future, they should be mindful of some fraudulent activities such as Ponzi scheme.
“A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investing scam promising high rates of return with little risk to investors. It is a fraudulent investing scam that generates returns for earlier investors with money taken from later investors. It involves paying existing investors in a non-existing enterprise with the funds collected from new investors.”
Mr Ikeagu added that there is a list of registered fund managers on the website of the SEC and urged members of the public to always cross-check that entities are registered for the products they are offering to the public.
Dipo Olowookere