Digital investment platform, Chaka, has announced its acquisition of the Digital Sub-Broker/Sub-Broker Serving Multiple Brokers Through a Digital Platform Licence by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Nigeria (SEC).
This makes Chaka the first recipient of the newly created licence by the SEC, which is part of the Commission’s efforts to foster regulation within the investment-tech space to ensure the safety of the investing public while encouraging innovation within the sector.
“We are honoured to be the foremost Fintech company to receive SEC’s first Fintech licence in Nigeria, the Digital Sub-Broker licence. For us, this is an important step towards achieving our vision to level the playing field for African investors, and a defining moment for the future of digital investments in Nigeria, and Africa at large,” Tosin Osibodu, Co-founder & CEO, Chaka Technologies, said while announcing the milestone on Wednesday.
Receiving the new licence, according to Osibudo, will enable the investment-tech company to continue to power on its mission to enable digital investing for businesses and individuals in the country and beyond.
The Securities and Exchange Commission, the regulator of Nigeria’s capital market, had recently warned capital market operators (CMO) to stop giving support to investment-tech startups providing access to foreign securities in Nigeria. Less than a month after, the Commission rolled out plans to license the innovators.
SEC had explained that its intention to license the firms offering foreign stocks under a “digital sub-broker” regulation was to provide a form of clarity to their activities.
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The requirement for obtaining the licence, according to the Commission, will include regulatory responsibilities in on-boarding clients, custody of assets, and meeting compliance with reporting requirements.
“As Nigeria remains an attractive hive for Fintech innovation, this new license from the SEC is the much-needed guide to help safeguard the investing public amid the ever-evolving landscape,” Chaka’s CEO said.
According to him, the licence represents a significant milestone for all players within the industry, and Chaka is confident that it will strengthen efforts towards fostering further growth and transformation.
“We are proud to set this precedent and are excited for the long-term impact of this new regulation and what it signals for the future. We are also thankful for the continued trust from our investors and partners, as we remain committed to fulfilling their needs,” Osibodu said.
Since Chaka’s launch in 2019, the company said it has remained transparent about its regulatory status, leveraging strategic partnerships with registered brokers.
All brokerage investments on its platform are facilitated by Citi Investment Capital Limited, a duly licensed brokerage firm registered with the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) and regulated by the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), it said.
Chaka is a Nigerian Fintech company that provides technology services, marketing, customer service and operations to brokers on behalf of their customers and is powering borderless investing for businesses and individuals in Africa. The company provides unrestricted access to 4,000+ stocks trading on capital markets.
