“Your Money at Risk”: SEC Shuts Down 13-Year-Old Investment Company, Sends Warning to Nigerians

• The SEC has decided to seal off the investment office of Ready Finance due to illegal investment activities
• The company was registered in 2010 and operates from an office in the heart of Abuja.
• The government has consistently urged Nigerians to be careful about where they invest their money

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has sealed the premises of Ready Finance Investors Limited.

The commission said the decision was made due to the company's involvement in illegal investment and other prohibited capital market activities.

According to the SEC, Ready Finance operates from Flat 5, AYA Memorial Plaza, Nkwere Street, Area 11, Garki, Abuja.

SEC not only sealed the company's premises but ordered the owner to shut down the operation for offering a range of financial investment services and schemes suggestive of a covert Ponzi scheme.

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Offences of Ready Finance

The commission said that the scheme entices clients with promises of fixed returns on investment, contingent upon the specific package to which a client subscribes.

Additionally, it stated that the company is not registered to engage in capital market activities, rendering its operations and activities illegal.

Part of the statement added:

"The matter is currently under the purview of law enforcement agencies for criminal investigation and subsequent prosecution."

SEC warns Nigerians

The SEC also warned Nigerians not to do business with the company in its statement.

"Any person subscribing to any of the company’s products/schemes or dealing with it in any capital market-related business is doing so at his/her own risk."

Dailytrust reports that in addition to sealing up the premises of offenders, other efforts by the commission to curb the operations of illegal capital market operators in Nigeria include the amendment of its Anti Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Financing (AML/CFT/CPF) Regulation 2022.

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Others are the implementation of Targeted Financial Sanctions (TFS), risk-based supervision and guidance on Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs).

AfDB DG speaks on investment portfolio in Nigeria

In an earlier report by Legit.ng, the African Development Bank (AfDB)'s DG said portfolio investments in Nigeria at $4.4 billion ranked among the greatest in the region.

He, however, noted that the investment dropped from 36% to 32% in the first three quarters of 2023.

He said 48 distinct fundings were split equally between the nation's public and private sector operations.

Source: Legit.ng