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 Nigerian companies sanctioned by the United States Government over alleged financial transactions connected to ISIS and ISIS-West Africa.
The directive was issued in a circular titled “Notice of Sanction” published on the commission’s website.
SEC ordered all Capital Market Regulated Entities (CMREs) to freeze the assets of the designated individual and companies without prior notice and report the action to the Secretariat of the Nigeria Sanctions Committee.
The individual named in the sanctions list is Mukhtar Adamu Muhammad, also known as Mukhtar Adamu and Muhammad Mukhtar.
The three affected companies are Generation Currency Bureau De Change Limited, Manhattan Bureau De Change Limited, and Nine to Nine Exchange Bureau De Change Limited.
According to the commission, regulated entities must immediately identify and freeze all funds, assets and other economic resources belonging to the sanctioned individual and companies that are in their possession or under their control.
The SEC also instructed operators to report all assets frozen, the measures taken to comply with the directive and any attempted transactions involving the designated individual or entities.
In addition to the asset freeze, the commission directed operators to file Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) for further analysis of the financial activities connected to the sanctions.
CMREs were further ordered to report all cases of name matching in financial transactions, whether the transactions occurred before or after receiving the sanctions list.
The commission also directed operators to prohibit further dealings with the sanctioned individual and companies and to continue monitoring any transactions related to them, with findings to be reported through the Nigeria Sanctions Committee.
SEC said the directive takes immediate effect and warned that failure to comply would constitute a violation of the Investments and Securities Act, 2025, as well as the commission’s Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Rules and Regulations.
The commission stated that non-compliance could attract regulatory sanctions, including fines, suspension of operations or revocation of registration.
The directive highlights the increasing regulatory effort to prevent Nigeria’s financial and capital market systems from being used for terrorism financing and other illicit financial activities.
