Nigeria's SEC still under Negotiation with CBN Over Crypto Regulation

Nigeria's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has revealed that its talk with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is still ongoing. The securities regulator stated that due to a CBN directive issued in February, 2021, the crypto guidelines it issued in September 2020 remain suspended.

However, the SEC still promised that all stakeholders would be informed of the outcome upon the conlusion of the talks. 

Commenting on the confict between the two regulatory bodies, Lamido Yuguda, the director-general of SEC, said:

"Because of the lack of access to commercial bank accounts, we had to suspend our own guidelines of September 2020, the implementation of that circular is suspended until these operators are able to have access to Nigerian bank accounts."

He added that negotiation was the only choice because no one can run business smoothly "in the Nigerian capital market if they do not have access to a Nigerian bank account."

On February 5, 2021, the CBN ordered all the banks to close users' accounts involving in crypto transactions in its Letter to All Deposit Money Banks, Non-Financial Institutions, and Other Financial Institutions. Later, the SEC stated that any plans to regulate the crypto currencies were suspended. ​