Nigeria’s capital market operators have decried the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) new capital hike, describing it as the “highest in the world” and warning that it risks wiping out brokers.
The SEC’s revised requirements substantially raise capital thresholds across operator categories, including stockbrokers, fund managers and digital asset platforms, with compliance due by 30 June 2027.
As of 18 January 2026, there were 803 registered capital market operators with the SEC, including 183 active stockbrokers on the NGX, with 60 per cent (109 houses) functioning as broker-dealers.
The new minimum capital requirement for broker-dealers is N2 billion, up from previous levels. Under the revised requirements, the SEC has raised minimum capital thresholds, with broker-dealers now required to have N2 billion, brokers N600 million and dealers N1 billion.
Sub-brokers have also been affected, with digital sub-brokers required to maintain N100 million in capital and corporate sub-brokers N50 million, up from N10 million each previously.
In a notable development, the SEC introduced explicit minimum capital thresholds for Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), reflecting the regulator’s push to bring digital asset activities firmly within the regulatory perimeter.
