Dr. Emonotimi Agama, director-general, Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), has disclosed that 50 cryptocurrency exchanges have applied for operational licences in the country.

Agama who spoke during a fireside chat at the BusinessDay Blockchain Conference in Lagos recently, said the commission received “50 applications and has accepted seven firms into its programmes”.

“Our work at the SEC is to protect investors and foster market development,” he said.

“The commission is open to innovation. Businesses must meet regulatory and compliance requirements to ensure the growth of a stable and sustainable digital economy.”

According to him, the government is receptive to crypto and blockchain because it has seen the country’s youths adopt the technology.

Agama added that the pace of acceptance of digital assets may vary across different sectors but will eventually happen.

“For innovators, we encourage you to seize the opportunity to develop blockchain solutions tailored to Africa’s unique needs,” he said.

“Focus on solving real-world problems, such as financial exclusion, inefficient supply chains, and lack of transparency in governance.”

Recall that SEC had on August 29, granted Busha Digital Limited and Quidax Technologies Limited “approval-in-principle” to commence operation under the accelerated regulatory incubation programme (ARIP).

The ARIP was introduced by the SEC to onboard firms that had already begun operations before the release of the rules on virtual asset service providers in May 2022

The commission equally introduced the regulatory incubation programme (RIP) designed to evaluate the business models of digital asset firms and allow them to test their products, services, and technology in a real-world market environment under the regulator’s close supervision.

The commission also said additional licence applications were being assessed and that approvals-in-principle would be granted on a case-by-case basis once the requirements were met.

However, on September 4, SEC clarified that it has not yet fully licenced any cryptocurrency exchange.

On his part, Buchi Okoro, chief executive officer (CEO) of Quidax, said regulation helps check operators’ activity in the space and protect investors.

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced new regulations for processing Point of Sale (PoS) transactions across the country, directing that all POS transaction are to be routed wither through the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) or Unified Payment Services Limited (UPSL) hence,  breaking the monopoly of the former on transaction processing.

In a circular dated September 11, 2024 to all payment service providers on connectivity to Payment Terminal Service Aggregators (PTSA), the CBN directed that payment service providers are to commence regularisation with the PTSAs and notify the CBN in writing to confirm compliance, within 30 days from the date of the circular.

In order to achieve the objective of tracking electronic transactions in Nigeria, the CBN had in August 2011, granted a PTSA licence to Nigeria Interbank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS).

Following concerns over channelling all Point of Sale (PoS) transactions through a single aggregator, it had on April 19, 2024, granted a second PTSA licence to Unified Payment Services Limited (UPSL).

Nearly five months after it granted the licence to UPSL, the CBN has directed that acquirers are “to route all transactions from PoS terminals at merchant and agent locations, whether on physical or electronic PoS terminals, through any CBN-licensed Payment Terminal Service Aggregator (PTSA).”

The circular further read, “PTSAs are required to send PoS transactions to only Processors certified by the relevant Payment Scheme, nominated by the Acquirer and licensed by CBN. All licensed Processors must be integrated with both PTSAs, thereby allowing Acquirers the flexibility to choose which Processor(s) and PTSA to utilise.

“All Payment Terminal Service Providers (PTSPs) must ensure that their PoS devices and applications are configured to route transactions through any PTSA, as directed by the Acquirer.

All PTSPs shall submit monthly returns to the CBN, detailing the number of merchants and agents they manage, along with the PTSA services used to route the corresponding transactions.

“Each PTSA is required to submit monthly returns to the CBN, detailing all transactions processed through their platforms. The returns mentioned above are expected to be submitted to the Director, Payments System Management Department, no later than seven days after the end of each month.”

The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee, has asked Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) to calculate and remit the Value Added Tax (VAT) on the commission from Remita between 2015 and 2022 to the federal government recovery accounts.

Remita is a financial solution gateway technology used by the federal government for collection of revenue for Ministries, Departments and Agencies to the Treasury Single Account (TSA).

The committee chaired by Hon. Bamidele Salam gave the directive on Thursday at the ongoing investigation into alleged revenue leakages through REMITA platform and non-compliance substantively with standard operating procedure and other allied service agreements.

The panel raised two issues on evidence of remittance of VAT components of Remita collections and collection of fees in the first regime of the Remita transaction.

But, Ahmed Liman, executive director of GTBank, said the bank did not remit the VAT for the period of eight years.

He said: “We believe that Remita is saddled with the responsibility of sharing the commission fees between the payment receiving parties.

“In our mind, we think Remita has done the needful before sharing the fees between the parties.”

Liman also said the collection of fees in the first regime of the Remita transaction, the bank charged 0.75 per cent on all the payers who used the platform.

The executive director added that the bank received N254.4 million from the Accountant General through Remita in 2018.

The committee resolved that the bank should calculate and remit the VAT on the commission fees received from the platform from 2015 to 2022 to the federal government recovery accounts domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Other Banks that appeared before the committee on the same issues were Keystone, Sterling Bank, Polaris Bank, FCMB, Ecobank, Wema among others.

The committee referred the aforementioned banks to the reconciliation sub-committee in order to address the discrepancies that were noted and get a new date to re-appear before the panel.