Checking a broker in the local register
What you learn in 3 minutesA licence is not a badge on a website. It is a record you can look up yourself, in the register of SEC Nigeria, and it decides whether anyone can be held to account if your money goes missing. The cost of skipping this check is not a fee. It is the whole deposit.
Checking one name against the register on 14 May 2025
| Step | Amount | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Date of the check | 14 May 2025 | Write the date down. A register changes. |
| Name typed into the register | the exact company name from the terms page | Not the brand on the advert. The legal name in the client agreement. |
| Result returned | one entry, status shown as active | The register shows the status. Read it. |
| Activity on the entry | the entry lists what the firm may do | Compare it with what you were offered. |
| Deposit you were about to send | ₦250,000 | The amount at risk if the entry does not match. |
| Cost of the check | ₦0 | The register is free to search. |
The broker may quote a different legal name on the payment page, may route the transfer to a third party, and may add card or transfer charges on top. The register entry, not the website, is the thing you are checking.
The mistake people make here
The common mistake is to search the brand name from the advertisement, see a similar name, and stop there. Instead, open the client agreement and copy the full legal name, then search that exact name and read the activity listed on the entry. If the entry covers a different activity from the one you were offered, the licence does not cover what you were sold. If the name on the payment instruction is a different company again, treat that as a separate question and ask for it in writing before sending anything.Check yourself
You plan to send ₦250,000. Two firms are on the register: one entry matches the legal name and the activity, one matches only the brand name. How much is at risk with the second firm, and what does the check itself cost?
The full ₦250,000 is at risk, because the entry that matches only the brand name does not cover the firm you would be paying. The check costs ₦0, because the register is free to search.
EUR/USD is near 1.0850. One pip on one standard lot is 10 units of the quote currency. If the naira rate is ₦1,600 to the dollar, what is one pip worth in naira on one standard lot?
10 x ₦1,600 = ₦16,000 per pip on one standard lot. On 0.10 lots it is ₦1,600 per pip. These figures change as the rate changes.
In Nigeria
- Regulator
- SEC Nigeria keeps the register of licensed capital market operators.
- What to search
- The full legal name from the client agreement, not the brand on the advert.
- What to read
- The status of the entry and the activities it lists.
- Cost of the check
- ₦0. The register is free to search.
- Payment methods
- Bank transfer, USSD and cards. Check the name on the payment instruction against the register entry.