Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has unveiled the most extensive revision of minimum capital requirements for capital market operators since 2015, in a move aimed at strengthening market stability and protecting investors.
The reforms, detailed in a circular issued on January 16, 2026, give market operators until June 30, 2027 to comply with the new framework.
According to the SEC, the changes target brokers, dealers, fund managers, issuing houses, fintech firms, digital asset operators, and market infrastructure providers, ensuring capital adequacy aligns with evolving market risks and discourages undercapitalised operators.
Key revisions include:
- Broker-dealers: N300 million raised to N2 billion, reflecting multiple roles in trading, execution, and margin lending.
- Fund and portfolio managers: Tiered requirements; firms with assets above N20 billion must hold N5 billion, mid-tier managers N2 billion.
- Private equity and venture capital: N500 million and N200 million, respectively.
- Digital asset firms: Exchanges and custodians must hold N2 billion, tokenisation platforms N500 million–N1 billion, robo-advisers N100 million.
- Issuing houses and advisory firms: Full underwriters N7 billion, advisory-only N2 billion.
- Market infrastructure providers: Composite exchanges and central counterparties N10 billion, clearinghouses N5 billion.
The SEC described the overhaul as necessary to enhance resilience, improve investor protection, and ensure capital levels match the risk profiles of different market participants.
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