Business
SEC Moves To Deepen Capital Market …Unveils 10-Year Market Plan, Nov
The Securities and Ex
change Commission (SEC) says it is targeting to increase the depth of the capital market.
This, the commission plans to achieve through the inauguration of a 10-year capital market master plan in November 2014 which would run between 2015 and 2025.
SEC made this known in a press statement issued by the Head of Public Relation Unit of the Commission, Mr Yakubu Olayele.
The statement said that SEC’s Executive Commissioner Corporate Services, Zakawanu Garuban revealed this at the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) annual meeting in Riode Janeiro, Brazil.
According to the statement, the market master plan is also aimed at ensuring the guided growth of the Nigerian capital market up to 2025.
Garuba also noted that the 10-year plan seeks to diversify the sources of capital and enable all the stakeholders in the Nigerian capital market to plan ahead.
The statement said that SEC’s capital market committee last year inaugurated three committees to achieve its 10-year master plan.
The three committees include, Master plan committee, Non-interest committee and the Literacy committee.
According to Garuba, the committee members were saddled with the responsibility of ensuring investor protection and education, professionalism, product innovation, as well as expansion of the role of the capital market in economic development.
SEC also acknowledged the report from the various committee last month, adding that the reports would be collated during the November retreat which will form the basis of the commission’s operation in the next 10 years.
The statement further noted that the long-term development committee considered relevant factors that would impact market growth and development strategies for rabust governance for improved efficiency, transparency and enhancement of the market stability.
Lilian Peters
Cornerstone of Financial Services
A survey of more than 1 000 global finance leaders undertaken by digital payment network Ripple shows that 72% of respondents believe they need to offer a digital asset solution to remain competitive.
According to Ripple, leaders from the banking, fintech, corporate and asset management sector have made it clear that the “digital asset revolution is happening now”.
“Digital assets are quickly becoming a cornerstone of financial services, underpinned by progressive regulation, growing interest from Tier-1 banks, a steady consumer shift from banks to fintech providers, and booming stablecoin adoption,” Ripple says.
The survey was conducted in early 2026 and the findings released in March.
Stablecoin Boon or Bane?
Ripple has experienced significant success in the stablecoin sector since launching its Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin in 2024.
With a market cap of $1.56 billion, it is considered a major regulated player in the market.
No doubt the platform was pleased to learn through its own survey that financial leaders were most bullish about stablecoins.
Roughly three-quarters of respondents believed they could boost cash-flow efficiency and unlock trapped working capital.
Ripple noted that finance leaders were thinking about stablecoins as more than “just a new way to execute payments”; instead, they viewed them as effective tools for treasury management.
In March 2026, Ripple began testing a new trade finance model built around RLUSD in a bid to increase the speed of cross-border payments.
The pilot initiative, developed alongside supply chain finance company Unloq [https://unloq.com], is running on the XRP Ledger inside a testing framework developed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The Asian city-state is one of the platform’s biggest growth markets.
The idea behind the project is to see whether stablecoin-based settlement can streamline trade finance, too often hampered by reliance on intermediaries and slow reconciliation.
The only potential drawback is that if the initiative takes off, the Ripple to USD price could be negatively affected.
Ripple has always championed its native XRP token as a bridge asset, the “middleman” in the process of a financial institution turning dollars in the US into pounds in the UK, for example.
Ripple converts dollars into XRP and then back into pounds.
If RLUSD can do exactly the same thing, questions will be asked about XRP’s relevance.
That is a bridge Ripple will have to cross if it gets to that point.
Tokenisation Partners
Another interesting finding from Ripple’s survey is that most banks and asset managers are seeking tokenisation partners to help execute their strategies.
Some 89% of respondents said digital asset storage and custody were top priority. “Token servicing/lifecycle management also ranks highly for banks at 82%, while asset managers place greater emphasis on primary distribution at 80%,” Ripple found.
The survey also revealed that just more than half of fintechs and financial institutions want an infrastructure provider that can offer a “one-stop-shop solution”. This rose to 71% among corporate financial leaders.
Ripple attributes this to institutions and firms wanting uncomplicated, cohesive systems.
Infrastructure Rules
In its final analysis, Ripple says companies across the board are looking for partners and solutions that are “secure, compliant, battle-tested and that enable growth and execution”.
“The message is clear: infrastructure decisions made today will shape competitive positioning tomorrow.”
No surprise that this is precisely where Ripple is placing much of its focus.
