The Securities and Exchange Commission has directed capital market regulated entities in Nigeria to terminate correspondent banking relationships and restrict business dealings involving North Korea and Iran.
The directive was contained in a circular released on August 14 and dated June 19, 2026. It takes immediate effect.
The SEC said the measures implement updated Financial Action Task Force statements issued during its February 2026 plenary session on jurisdictions considered to pose significant money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing risks.
For the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the commission ordered capital market firms to terminate correspondent banking relationships with financial institutions incorporated in, owned by or controlled by North Korean persons or entities.
It also directed firms to ensure that subsidiaries, branches and representative offices of North Korean financial institutions are not established or maintained within their operations.
Capital market operators were further instructed to restrict or, where appropriate, refuse relationships and transactions involving North Korean nationals, entities, government bodies or persons acting on their behalf.
For Iran, the SEC ordered firms to refuse transactions involving Iranian financial institutions and not to establish or maintain subsidiaries, branches or representative offices of such institutions in Nigeria.
The commission also directed operators to refrain from establishing or operating branches, subsidiaries or representative offices in Iran where weaknesses in the country’s anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism financing and counter-proliferation financing framework could compromise compliance obligations.
Myanmar was treated differently. The SEC directed firms to apply enhanced due diligence measures to Myanmar-related business rather than impose an outright restriction.
The commission also placed 20 jurisdictions under enhanced monitoring: Algeria, Angola, Bolivia, the British Virgin Islands, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Kenya, Lao PDR, Lebanon, Monaco, Namibia, Nepal, South Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, Vietnam and Yemen.
The SEC said unusual or suspicious transactions must be promptly reported to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit. It warned that non-compliance could attract fines, suspension of operations or revocation of registration under the Investments and Securities Act, 2025, and the SEC AML/CFT Rules and Regulations.
