Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced plans to introduce new regulations for crypto operators following recent challenges with Binance.
New regulations
The planned regulations would include licensing, registration and screening guidelines for digital and virtual asset service providers (VASPs). Furthermore, the new directive would ensure that malicious actors are not registered as operators in the Nigerian market.
A local media outlet, citing a March 4 notice from the regulator, reported that the SEC had expressed willingness to engage with “real” digital asset operators. The notice stated:
“The SEC has also developed a new AML/CFT/CPF AML/CFT/CPF onboarding guide for licensing/registration and ongoing screening of digital and VASP beneficiaries to ensure that criminals are not registered as capital market operators. The SEC is ready to interact with real VASPs based on these clear rules and regulations.”
The Commission is also working with the Central Bank of Nigeria to ensure that additional rules are included in the forthcoming regulations.
The Nigerian SEC has introduced several pro-crypto regulations to enable the industry to operate under its purview. Last year, the regulator said it would allow the tokenization of assets such as shares, real estate and debt within the jurisdiction.
Nigeria vs Binance
These proposed regulations follow the Nigerian government’s issues with Binance, the largest crypto exchange by trading volume.
In recent weeks, the exchange has been accused of exacerbating Nigeria’s currency woes by arbitrarily setting rates and taking advantage of the situation. As a result, authorities blocked access to the official website and arrested two of its executives. Additionally, the government is reportedly considering a $10 billion fine of the crypto platform.
In response, Binance suspended all its services related to the naira, the country’s national currency, and pledged to cooperate with authorities in their investigations.
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