Crowdyvest issues public statement in response to Nigeria's SEC’s Cease and Desist Order
Crowdyvest, a Nigerian fintech company was recently in the news for a Cease and Desist Order issued to it by the Nigerian SEC on its investment product, “the Halal Fund”. The fintech company has released a statement clarifying its position on the issue.
In the statement, the fintech company said its attention has been drawn to news circulating about an SEC-issued Cease and Desist Order on one of its products “the Halal Fund”.
The startup said, this narrative has compelled it to make a public statement clarifying what it termed a misformation.
The statement reads, “Crowdyvest Victoria Island Multi-purpose Cooperative Society is a cooperative society duly registered under the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with registration no: LCSC 16939.
Crowdyvest launched a product for her members called the Halal Fund. The product which is purely targeted at the Cooperative society’s members is for investment in a Rice sharing project and complies with the objectives of the Cooperative society.”
It further stated that “On May 11, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a cease-and-desist order to Crowdyvest with regards to the Halal Fund as the Commission assumed that it was a call to the general public for investment. Crowdyvest immediately put the launch of this product on hold and on May 14, 2021, explained its position to the Commission, reiterating that the said product was strictly for members of its Society. We are still awaiting feedback from SEC on our response and are surprised that the Commission would publicize its cease-and-desist order and state that we are not a registered entity without proper investigations and confirmation of its power to issue such order to Crowdyvest.”
The startup said its activities do not fall under the regulatory purview of the SEC. Adding that they were a cooperative society working in line with the Lagos state Cooperatives law.
Crowdyvest Cooperative is NOT an SEC-regulated entity and does not operate any business operations within the purview of SEC. We are a credible organization operating as a cooperative society and in line with the Cooperatives Law of Lagos State”
The startup enjoined its members to remain calm as they are in discussions with the commission to resolve the issue, and promised to carry everyone should there be new developments.
“To all our members, please be rest assured that we are in discussions with the SEC to clarify our position and will continue to operate within the ambit of the law. All members’ funds are safe and are being utilized as agreed with members and in line with our bye-laws.
We also promise to carry all our members along should there be any new development with regards to any of our products.”
We earlier reported that the SEC has issued a Cease and Desist Order in which the regulatory body mandated the fintech company to halt the launch and operations of the Crowdyvest Halal Fund and any other investment activity which involves soliciting investments and deposits from the public, citing that the Fund is not part of the list of the Commission’s authorized Halal Funds.
Nigerian SEC directs investment fintechs to register under new regulations or halt operations