Nigeria’s FATF Exit: SEC Pushes for Deeper Compliance Culture
By Patience Ikpeme
The Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Dr. Emomotimi Agama, has charged stakeholders in the financial sector to strengthen and maintain a proactive culture of compliance, asserting that such dedication is essential to safeguard Nigeria’s position in the global financial system.
This comes just after the country’s recent removal from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Grey List.
Speaking at the Nigerian Capital Market Institute Compliance Summit on Monday, Dr. Agama described Nigeria’s exit from the Grey List as a major national achievement and a significant global endorsement of the country’s commitment to reinforcing its Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) framework.
“This was not a mere administrative update; it was a resounding global affirmation of our collective and unwavering commitment,” he stated.
Dr. Agama credited the success to the joint efforts of public and private sector institutions, commending operators, regulators, and compliance professionals for their collective role in achieving the milestone.
Despite the success, the SEC boss cautioned that the removal from the Grey List should not be misinterpreted as the culmination of the effort. “Exiting the grey list is not the finish line; it is the starting block for a new race. The world is watching,” he said.
Dr. Agama stressed that international investors and global financial institutions will continuously monitor Nigeria to assess the sustainability of the reforms and determine whether the country’s compliance culture is truly ingrained.
He connected this necessity to the summit’s theme, which he said points to the need for a shift from compliance driven by external pressure to a more strategic, proactive, and permanent culture of adherence to global standards.
“Robust compliance is no longer a regulatory burden; it is our single most powerful competitive advantage. A compliant market is a transparent market, and a trustworthy market is the destination for capital,” the Director General affirmed.
According to him, Nigeria’s strengthened compliance regime sends a clear signal to the international community that the country is “open for business, safe, secure and sophisticated.”
Dr. Agama called for continuous improvement across institutions, specifically advocating for the adoption of RegTech and SupTech solutions, the regular training of compliance officers, and the promotion of ethical conduct across the financial services ecosystem.
He assured stakeholders that the SEC will continue to provide strong regulatory guidance, constructive supervision, and the necessary engagement to keep Nigeria aligned with global standards.
The SEC DG urged participants at the summit to share insights and develop practical solutions that will “future-proof” the Nigerian capital market, expressing hope that the country would instead feature among the world’s most resilient and compliant emerging markets. “Let us work together to ensure that Nigeria never again finds itself on that list,” Dr. Agama concluded.
In her address, Ms. Frana Chukwuogor, Executive Commissioner Legal and Enforcement at the SEC, drew attention to the new Investment and Securities Act (ISA) 2025, which was signed into law by the President earlier this year. She noted that one of the greatest challenges facing compliance officers and market operators when a regulation changes is a lack of information.
“How can you be compliant if you don’t know what has changed? So our focus here today is to bring the attention, call the attention to some of the new issues, some of the new areas that may pose risks to them and the market,” Ms. Chukwuogor explained.
She disclosed that some of the issues to be addressed deal with threats posed by Ponzi schemes and digital assets.
Ms. Chukwuogor also linked the need for diligence back to the recent FATF success, saying: “All of you remember that this October, this just past October, we were removed from the gray list. So, yes, we want every participant, every capital market operator, especially the CEOs, to first know, to compel the people who work with them, especially the compliance officers, to learn the new issues that the Investment and Securities Act 2025 requires of them.”
The Executive Commissioner further disclosed that the Commission intends to measure compliance by ensuring that operators file returns, adding that failure to do so could result in sanctions.
