The Securities and Trade Fee (SEC) has clarified that fund and portfolio managers shall be required to carry 0.1% of Belongings Underneath Administration (AUM) as regulatory capital and never 10% as initially acknowledged in its January 16, 2026, round.
That is in keeping with dependable sources inside the SEC who confirmed the correction to Nairametrics, following sturdy suggestions from capital market operators.
SEC DG, Dr. Emomotimi Agama, can be anticipated to make this clarification official subsequent week.
The clarification considerably lowers the capital burden for big asset managers and averts what trade leaders feared might destabilise the funding administration panorama.
As a part of its sweeping regulatory reforms, the SEC raised capital thresholds throughout just about all capital market classes.
Different operators are additionally impacted: brokers (N600 million), sellers (N1 billion), broker-dealers (N2 billion), issuing homes (N2 billion–N7 billion relying on scope), and digital asset platforms (N2 billion). The implementation deadline is June 30, 2027.
Whereas the SEC’s objectives of strengthening investor safety and enhancing market resilience have been broadly welcomed, operators described the capital hikes—particularly for fund managers—as aggressive.
For even bigger managers, the consequence is identical: low returns on capital, even with environment friendly operations. The report warns that this may increasingly discourage scale, encourage asset fragmentation, and finally weaken competitors within the trade.
The SEC’s correction of the AUM capital rule from 10% to 0.1% is a vital course adjustment. It ensures the Fee’s goals—market stability and investor safety—stay intact with out jeopardising the viability of top-tier fund managers.
Nonetheless, considerations stay over the flat N5 billion ground for Tier 1 managers, which some argue might nonetheless favour massive, bank-affiliated companies and scale back variety within the trade.
Requires a extra risk-sensitive, graduated mannequin are anticipated to persist as implementation approaches.
Nairametrics understands that SEC Director-Common, Dr. Emomotimi Agama, is anticipated to publicly make clear and make sure these adjustments throughout a stakeholder briefing scheduled for subsequent week.
This follows days of consultations between the Fee and trade operators, and rising considerations concerning the potential impression of the unique capital framework.
The SEC’s capital revision, introduced in mid-January, is a part of a broader regulatory reform that additionally consists of the formal integration of fintechs, digital asset platforms, and new market infrastructure gamers into the capital market construction.
As implementation progresses towards the 2027 deadline, the main focus will shift to how companies adapt and whether or not additional regulatory fine-tuning will comply with.
Editor’s notice: This text has been up to date to appropriate the belongings underneath administration (AUM) of Stanbic IBTC Asset Administration, which is roughly N4 trillion and never N11 trillion as earlier acknowledged. The preliminary determine inadvertently mixed the AUM of Stanbic IBTC Asset Administration with that of Stanbic IBTC Pensions.
