The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has warned that operators of illegal investment schemes will face a minimum fine of N20 million, 10 years imprisonment or both.
According to NAN on Tuesday, Emomotimi Agama, director-general (DG) of the SEC, said the penalty is one of the provisions of the newly signed Investments and Securities Act (ISA) 2025.
On March 29, the SEC announced that President Bola Tinubu has signed the investment and securities bill (ISB) 2025 into law.
According to the commission, the new Act is designed to strengthen the legal framework of the Nigerian capital market and enhance investor protection.
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The ISB 2025 repeals the Investments and Securities Act No. 29 of 2007 and enacts the Investments and Securities Act 2025.
Agama said the new Act would empower the commission to prosecute Ponzi scheme operators, better protect investors, and promote market integrity and transparency, addressing a previous lack of legal authority that hindered justice.
“N20 million is not the entire penalty or the entire money that will be charged or sanctioned to any suspecting or any accused capital market or non-capital market operator,” he said.
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“It is just part of the penalties and or the sanctions that will be meted against such persons.
“Any profits or gains obtained from defrauding Nigerians will be recovered because it is not about the quantum of the fraud, it is about sanctions that will deter people from even getting into it.
“We recognise that a lot of Nigerians have fallen prey to these schemes, and the reason why that is the case is because there were no sanctions.
“Protecting the investors in Nigeria is a cardinal responsibility of SEC, and this law has provided the SEC with stronger powers to be able to do that.”
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Agama also noted that the Act has introduced transformative provisions to bring Nigeria’s market operations more in line with global standards and best practices.
