Get Guardian on Google…Regulator, organisers, brokers prioritise safety, credibility
Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has disclosed that its draft rules on online forex and CFD trading are being reviewed following stakeholder submissions, as the second Africa Forex Trading Expo (AFTE) opened in Lagos yesterday.
Following the theme, “Africa’s Digital Finance Revolution: Trading, Technology and Opportunity,” the Director-General of SEC, Dr. Emomotimi Agama, said in his keynote address that Section 3(3)(o) of the Investments and Securities Act, 2025, empowers it to register and regulate online forex trading activities, platforms and intermediaries.
According to Agama, represented by the SEC Director of Derivatives, Commodities and Risks Management, Daiyabu Kurfi, the commission released the draft rules for public comment, and different layers within the SEC are now reviewing the responses received.
According to the SEC, the proposed framework sets out which entities must register, what they may do and what they owe customers, just as it also addresses cross-border arrangements and offshore operators whose activities target Nigerian residents, subject to applicable law.
“Accessibility should not be confused with safety, and technological sophistication should not be mistaken for investment quality,” the SEC said, cautioning that being able to open an account and place a trade does not mean a person understands leverage, costs or the possibility of losing the entire amount invested.
The commission said its approach rests on five priorities: a clear framework for market participation; fitness, competence and financial soundness; transparency and fair treatment of clients; protection of client funds and effective complaint handling; and effective supervision and enforcement.
Urging investors to treat claims of guaranteed profits or high returns with little or no risk with considerable caution, to verify any platform’s regulatory status through the SEC’s official channels, and to be wary of unsolicited offers, it stressed that registration “is not a substitute for ongoing supervision.”
SEC also set out five calls to action for operators, including building compliance into business models from the outset; and putting investor interests at the centre of product design and distribution.
Others are investing in cybersecurity and market-integrity technology; strengthening cooperation between industry and regulators; and developing African expertise and institutions.
Meanwhile, the Director of Azelia Expo Ltd, Zack Kiratu, said the industry’s growth must come with responsibility, listing financial literacy, unrealistic expectations, inadequate risk management, questionable marketing practices and consumer protection as issues to be confronted.
According to Kiratu, whose company organised the expo, “a bigger market is important, but a more credible market is even more important.”
He identified innovation, trust and opportunity as the three elements that must work together to shape Africa’s digital financial markets, and urged the continent to move from being a consumer of financial products to an active participant in designing them.
“Africa’s digital finance revolution is not something we should merely observe. It is something we must actively participate in and help shape,” he said.
Also, the presenting sponsor, FundingPips, Hassan Chattha, said its mission is to close the gap between trading talent and access to capital, citing over $330 million in payouts, more than three million traders and a presence in over 195 countries.
Presenting the figures, the proprietary trading firm said five Nigerian traders alone had received nearly half a million dollars in payouts.
However, it equally told Nigerian traders to observe restraint, stating that “hustle gets you into the game. Discipline keeps you in the game,” adding that traders do not need to win every trade but need to survive, manage risk and stay consistent.
Also, workshops and masterclasses alongside the main programme reinforced the same theme, with Exinity (FXTM) client education specialist Pius Ogbu’s “From Strategy to Execution” centred on the distinction between a trading plan and a trading strategy, and on defining entry, stop-loss, target, and trade-management rules in advance, among others.
