The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is preparing to introduce new capital requirements for capital market operators (CMO), with the announcement scheduled for January 16th, 2026.<\/p>\n
The move signals the regulator\u2019s plan to update the operating thresholds that guide the market\u2019s intermediaries.<\/p>\n
What Happened<\/strong><\/p>\n The disclosure came from Dr. Emomotimi Agama, Director-General of SEC, during the third-quarter Capital Market Committee meeting in Lagos. He reminded operators that the last recapitalisation exercise was in 2015 and noted that economic conditions have shifted significantly since then, affecting activity in the market and across the wider economy.<\/p>\n What the SEC is Saying<\/strong><\/p>\n Dr. Agama explained that the update is guided by the revised Nigerian Capital Market Masterplan, which highlights the need to strengthen intermediaries, improve compliance, upgrade technology infrastructure and raise operational standards. He said the exercise aligns with IOSCO principles, which require regulators to set clear initial and ongoing standards for market operators.<\/p>\n Context Behind the Move<\/strong><\/p>\n He offered a comparison with other emerging markets. Among nine countries reviewed, Nigeria ranked lowest in market capitalisation relative to gross domestic product (GDP) and in the number of listed companies, yet it had the highest number of intermediaries. According to him, this imbalance makes consolidation necessary.<\/p>\n Why This Matters<\/strong><\/p>\n The SEC DG said the new capital framework is designed to strengthen market resilience, expand capacity, lift investor confidence and make Nigeria\u2019s market more competitive. He stated that the Commission has met with trade groups, reviewed examples from banking, insurance and pensions, and ensured that the final thresholds would be fair and realistic for operators.<\/p>\n He said the recapitalisation should lead to stronger institutions, healthier competition, improved innovation and more meaningful participation across the market. He described the upcoming announcement as a step toward building a deeper, more stable and globally aligned financial system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is preparing to introduce new capital requirements for capital market operators (CMO), with the announcement scheduled for January 16th, 2026.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1082,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[17,172,36],"tags":[82,815,813,794,79,814,812,87,811,74],"class_list":["post-1347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-market-finance-banking","category-news","category-policy","tag-capitalmarkets","tag-capitalrequirements","tag-financialreforms","tag-financialregulation","tag-investorconfidence","tag-iosco","tag-marketoperators","tag-nigeriaeconomy","tag-recapitalisation","tag-secnigeria"],"yoast_head":"\n