The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has vowed to take action against unregulated operators in the capital market space, including crypto operators.
The Director-General of SEC, Emomotimi Agama, made this known in a statement in Abuja on Sunday.
He disclosed that some participants in the market want to operate without supervision and are not ready to play by the rules but the SEC has a responsibility to protect investors.
Agama, therefore, cautioned all operators to play by the rules, warning that the commission would deploy the law against defaulters. 
”We are certainly going to commence enforcement actions on anyone who wants to operate in this market and does not have the intention of being regulated.
”This also applies to those in the crypto space.
”We are sending this signal to all those that want to play by the books that they are welcome to our space.
”For those that do not want to play by the books, of course we will not allow them operate within our space,” he said.
Speaking on the recent approval given in principle to two crypto exchanges, Agama said it was necessitated by the increasing interest of Nigerian youths in the digital space.
He emphasized the need to provide regulation, clarity, and investors’ protection, which were the primary responsibility of SEC.
He said that the activities of crypto exchanges must be watched closely so that they do not impede the economy.
”All these we seek to do without hindering innovation because part of our primary responsibility as the SEC is market development.
”Clearly, the majority of persons involved in this space are the youth, therefore, providing a regulated space for these individuals is a primary responsibility of SEC.
”We had to provide a guide, clarity and the knowledge it requires to put all of these things in place, and that is why we have done what we did.
”Full disclosure and making sure that they meet the anti-money laundering and combating financing of terrorism report. Also, education is important as well as a guided regulatory space,” he said.
Agama noted further that the commission had received numerous applications for exchanges, but it did not intend to flood the market with exchanges, adding that the number of exchanges the commission would register in future would be dependent on individuals and companies meeting the strict regulatory requirement set by SEC.
The director-general said that the commission was taking various steps to ensure that citizens were safeguarded from any attempt to misinform them and rip them off their resources.
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