NIGERIA: Fintech: CBN to establish collateral management regime for Fintechs

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In order to encourage more innovations in the payment system, the Central Bank of Nigeria, is putting in place a Collateral Management Regime to regulate the activities of Fintech firms and startups in the country.

The Director, Payments System Management Department, Sam Okojere, who represented the Governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele, disclosed this in his keynote address at the Lagos Fintech Week in Lagos.

He said, “CMR is being developed in line with on-going efforts to evolve a robust collateral management regime which will be proportionate to transactional level of participants within the payment system.”

Lagos Fintech Week is an invigorating week of distinct Fintech events that delivers discussions, stimulating demos and insightful debates.

According to him, the consequences of the new regime was that both incumbents and new entrants would operate without unnecessary collateral burden.

A fintech lawyer and partner, Private Equity Capital at the chambers of Aluko & Oyebode, Oludare Sembore, who also spoke at the event, noted, “The Nigerian approach to fintech regulation is somewhat similar to the United States and South Africa.

“Fintech in these countries are not governed by any specific legal framework, as the regulators are currently taking steps to understand the concept.”

He added that the current Fintech landscape in Nigeria was largely regulated by circulars and guidelines published by the CBN and a host of existing regulations that applied to traditional financial service institutions.

SOURCE: PUNCH NEWS