The Securities and Exchange Commission has directed regulated capital market operators in Nigeria to terminate certain financial relationships involving North Korea and Iran as part of updated measures against money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing.
The directive was issued in a circular dated August 14, 2026 and implements positions adopted by the Financial Action Task Force at its February 2026 plenary.
For North Korea, regulated firms were instructed to terminate correspondent banking relationships with financial institutions incorporated in, owned by or controlled by persons or entities linked to the country.
Operators were also directed to ensure that subsidiaries, branches or representative offices of North Korean financial institutions were not established or maintained within their operations.
Business relationships and transactions involving North Korean nationals, entities, government bodies or persons acting on their behalf are to be restricted or refused where appropriate.
For Iran, the SEC directed operators to refuse transactions involving Iranian financial institutions and avoid establishing or maintaining branches, subsidiaries or representative offices linked to such institutions in Nigeria.
Regulated entities were also told to avoid establishing operational structures in Iran where weaknesses in anti money laundering, counter terrorism financing or counter proliferation financing controls could create compliance risks.
Myanmar was placed under enhanced due diligence rather than an outright restriction.
The SEC also identified several jurisdictions under increased international monitoring, including Algeria, Angola, Bolivia, the British Virgin Islands, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Kenya, Laos, Lebanon, Monaco, Namibia, Nepal, South Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, Vietnam and Yemen.
Capital market operators that have not subscribed to Nigeria’s sanctions alert system were directed to do so immediately.
The commission said unusual or suspicious transactions must be reported promptly to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit.
In a separate directive, the SEC ordered operators to freeze assets belonging to a Nigerian individual and three companies newly designated over alleged links to Islamic State financing networks.
The commission warned that failure to comply with the directives could attract fines, suspension or revocation of registration.
