The Securities and Exchange Commission has mandated all Capital Market Operators to achieve full compliance with the Investments and Securities Act 2025 by January 2026.
The directive requires operators to formally declare their compliance status and ensure all tradable instruments under their management are properly registered.
SEC Director-General Emomotimi Agama announced the deadline at the Commission’s Journalists’ Academy in Lagos.
The event had the theme: “The ISA 2025 and the Future of Nigeria’s Capital Market: Innovation, Protection and Growth.”
Agama, represented by the Commissioner of Operations, Bola Ajomale, stated that the new Act strengthens the regulatory foundation of Nigeria’s capital market and clearly obligates operators to comply with updated standards.
He mandated that all entities offering tradable instruments must register with the Commission and complete the required process within the stipulated timeframe.
“If we get this right, ISA 2025 will serve as the powerful foundation for the capital market Nigeria needs and deserves: deep, efficient, innovative and globally competitive. The ISA 2025 is more than a replacement for the 2007 Act. It is a forward-looking instrument designed to reposition Nigeria’s capital market for a rapidly changing world,” he said.
Agama explained that the reform, necessitated by the rise of digital trading and fintech, strengthens investor protection, empowers market operators, and enhances the SEC’s regulatory oversight.
He added that the ISA 2025 aligns Nigeria’s market with global standards while proactively addressing local challenges and systemic risks.
“One of the most transformative aspects of the ISA 2025 is the clarity it brings to the mandate of the Securities and Exchange Commission. For the first time, the Act explicitly sets out the regulatory objectives, functions and powers of the Commission, including acting in the public interest, protecting investors, maintaining fair and transparent markets, preventing unlawful practices, reducing systemic risk and supporting capital formation,” he noted.
He stated that the Act significantly expands the Commission’s investigative capacity, granting it authority over both regulated entities and unrelated third parties crucial to enforcement.
This enhanced clarity, he added, strengthens regulatory authority, bolsters institutional accountability, and eliminates past ambiguities that complicated enforcement, thereby ensuring the SEC’s work is fully aligned with national economic goals.
“This closes a major loophole that hindered previous investigations into market abuse and complex financial schemes. Such provisions signal that the SEC is no longer limited by outdated definitions or narrow supervisory boundaries. The regulator now has modern tools to protect the integrity of the market,” he said.
Agama stated that the Act embodies a collective commitment to building a modernized and resilient capital market architecture for the future.
