Nigeria’s SEC proposes guidelines for crypto firms to fight criminals

The Nigerian securities regulatory authority has introduced new guidelines for crypto service providers.

According to local reports, Nigeria’s SEC is moving to block criminals from interacting with the capital markets. New SEC guidance will ensure that criminals are not registered as operators in the capital markets, although it is unclear how criminality will be investigated.

The guidance, which includes anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CFT) regulations, aims to prevent criminals from accessing the country’s capital market.

“The SEC has also developed a new AML/CFT/CPF onboarding manual for licensing/registration and ongoing screening of Digital and VASP Beneficial Owners to ensure that criminals are not registered as operators in the capital market.”

SEC statement

The restrictions come amid an ongoing investigation by Nigerian authorities into Binance, which is accused of illegal activities in the country and manipulation of the naira exchange rate.

Users in Nigeria began reporting about this the day before. Representatives of the largest crypto exchange sent emails to Nigerian users. They noted that they know the current situation and actively interact with Nigerian regulatory authorities.

Nigerian security agencies also detained two exchange employees. The Binance employees could face charges of currency manipulation, tax evasion, and illegal transactions.

Binance later stopped all Nigerian naira services.