‘Patronise only licensed operators for market transactions’

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has admonished investors to patronise only registered operators when engaging in capital market transactions.

The Director-General of the commission, Lamido Yuguda, who bemoaned the activities of fraudulent operators and investment outfits, stressed the need for investors to confirm the status of operators and confirm they are duly registered with the SEC.

“The SEC has been fighting a serious war against Ponzi schemes, we have been alerting people on the proliferation of Ponzi schemes. We have said that investors should only deal with operators that are registered with the Commission.

“We have their list on the SEC website and we have always said that if you go to an operator or when an operator approaches you, you must confirm that it is licensed with the SEC.

“We have our numbers on how to reach our offices in the zones and we have done a lot of sensitisation in terms of seminars, webinars all to discourage people from going to Ponzi schemes,” he said.

Yuguda assured that the commission would intensify efforts to clamp down promoters of illegal investment outfits in the capital market.

According to him, the SEC is working with regulators of public agencies to curb the activities of illegal operators and protect investors.

He also pointed out that the commission is currently partnering with agencies of the government in terms of reducing the access of Ponzi schemes to the advertising platforms such as the internet, print media and electronic media.

“This is very important because Ponzi schemes are a cancer to the capital market, a lot of money has been lost and it is unacceptable to continue to have this kind of investment losses by people.

“Unfortunately, a lot of people continue to patronise these Ponzi schemes, we have had cases that have been reported to us, our enforcement department and the police unit have been on many of these cases trying to resolve them.”

He described the synergies between the Commission and the law enforcement in the fight against Ponzi schemes as harmonious, stating that a detachment of the Nigerian Police is working directly with the SEC on capital market matters, including the Ponzi scheme.

“The collaboration between the organisations is very strong and we are always talking between ourselves. We are expanding to other groups that have control over our airwaves and internet systems because you still see a lot of adverts for Ponzi schemes on these platforms. We are engaging continuously with these agencies to eliminate all Ponzi schemes operations in our market.”