The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has ordered 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 connections to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and ISIS-West Africa.
The Nigerian listed on the sanctions notice is Mukhtar Adamu Muhammad, also known as Mukhtar Adamu and Muhammad Mukhtar.
The three companies named in the directive are Generation Currency Bureau De Change Limited, Manhattan Bureau De Change Limited and Nine to Nine Exchange Bureau De Change Limited.
The SEC instructed regulated entities to freeze all funds, assets and other economic resources belonging to the designated individual and companies in their possession and report the action to the Secretariat of the Nigeria Sanctions Committee.
Capital market operators are also required to provide details of assets frozen and other measures taken to comply with the directive. They must equally report any attempted transactions involving the sanctioned individual or entities.
The commission said the measures were aimed at preventing Nigeria’s financial system from being used to facilitate prohibited financial activities.
In addition to the asset-freezing directive, the SEC ordered capital market operators to file suspicious transaction reports with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) for further investigation and analysis.
Operators were also directed to notify the NFIU where the names of the sanctioned individual or companies match names appearing in financial transactions, regardless of whether such transactions occurred before or after the sanctions notice was received.
The SEC further instructed regulated entities to prevent future dealings with the affected individual and companies and maintain continuous monitoring of transactions linked to them.
Any relevant findings are to be reported to the Nigeria Sanctions Committee, while the directive takes immediate effect.
The commission warned that failure to comply with the order would amount to a violation of the Investments and Securities Act 2025 and its Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism Rules and Regulations.
According to the SEC, institutions found guilty of non-compliance could face regulatory penalties, including fines, suspension of operations or revocation of their registration.
