The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has directed operators in Nigeria’s capital market to immediately identify and freeze funds, assets and other economic resources linked to a Nigerian citizen and three companies recently sanctioned by the United States Government over alleged financial dealings connected to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and ISIS-West Africa.
the directive was contained in a circular titled ‘Notice of Sanction’ published on the commission’s website.
The SEC ordered all Capital Market Regulated Entities to freeze the assets of the affected individual and companies without prior notice and report the action to the Secretariat of the Nigeria Sanctions Committee.
The Nigerian citizen named on the sanctions list is Mukhtar Adamu Muhammad, also known as Mukhtar Adamu and Muhammad Mukhtar.
The three companies listed are Generation Currency Bureau De Change Limited, Manhattan Bureau De Change Limited and Nine to Nine Exchange Bureau De Change Limited.
The SEC said capital market operators must act immediately upon identifying funds or assets belonging to the designated individual or companies.
It directed CMREs to “immediately identify and freeze, without prior notice, all funds, assets, and any other economic resources belonging to the designated individual and entities in their possession” and report the action to the Nigeria Sanctions Committee.
The commission also instructed regulated entities to submit details of all assets frozen and actions taken in compliance with the sanctions.
Operators are equally required to report any attempted transactions involving the sanctioned individual or companies.
The SEC said the measures were necessary to ensure that Nigeria’s financial system was not used to facilitate prohibited financial activities.
Suspicious transactions to be reported
Beyond freezing the assets, the SEC directed capital market operators to immediately file suspicious transaction reports with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit for further analysis.
The operators were also instructed to report to the NFIU any cases in which the names of the sanctioned individual or companies matched names appearing in financial transactions.
The directive applies regardless of whether the transaction took place before or after the operators received the sanctions notice.
The SEC further ordered capital market operators to prohibit future dealings with the sanctioned individual and entities and continue monitoring any transactions connected to them.
Any findings are to be reported to the Nigeria Sanctions Committee through
The commission said the directive took immediate effect and warned regulated entities against failing to comply.
According to the SEC, non-compliance would constitute a violation of the Investments and Securities Act, 2025, as well as the commission’s Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism Rules and Regulations.
It warned that defaulters could face regulatory sanctions, including fines, suspension of operations or revocation of their registration.
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