The Senate has ruled out creating a new standalone regulator for Nigeria’s booming financial technology industry, opting instead to vest full supervisory authority in the Central Bank of Nigeria through amendments to existing banking laws.

At a public hearing in Abuja, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, Senator Mukhail Adetokunbo Abiru, said lawmakers favour strengthening the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act to reflect the rapid evolution of digital finance.

The session reviewed a proposed amendment to BOFIA and examined the operations of Ponzi schemes, with particular reference to the recent Crypto Bullion Exchange scandal, which left thousands of Nigerians nursing heavy losses.

The hearing was jointly convened by the Senate Committees on Banking, ICT and Cyber Security, Capital Market, and Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes, underscoring the cross-cutting risks posed by unregulated digital platforms.

Abiru explained that fintech firms, including mobile money operators, payment processors, digital lenders and settlement companies, now handle vast transaction volumes and sensitive data, yet operate in a space where regulation has not fully kept pace.

While the CBN already designates Systemically Important Financial Institutions, the current framework is largely bank-focused and does not adequately capture large non-bank digital platforms, leaving what lawmakers describe as dangerous regulatory gaps.

The amendment seeks to empower the CBN to formally classify qualifying fintechs and digital financial institutions as Systemically Important Institutions, create a national registry to improve transparency and beneficial ownership disclosure, and deepen risk-based supervision tailored to technology-driven services.

Abiru dismissed calls for a new fintech regulator, warning that such a body would duplicate existing functions, fuel bureaucratic overlap, raise costs and fragment oversight in a sector that demands tight coordination.

He argued that fintech supervision is inseparable from monetary policy, payments oversight, prudential regulation, Know-Your-Customer and Anti-Money Laundering enforcement, and systemic risk monitoring, all of which already sit within the CBN’s mandate.

Instead, the Senate wants a modernised BOFIA framework that mandates closer collaboration between the CBN and agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, Nigerian Communications Commission, National Information Technology Development Agency, Corporate Affairs Commission, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, Office of the National Security Adviser and the Federal Ministry of Finance.

Beyond fintech, senators intensified scrutiny of Ponzi schemes, which Abiru described as a mounting threat to financial stability, public confidence and Nigeria’s reputation. He warned that fraudulent investment platforms distort capital flows, fuel illicit finance and inflict severe hardship on households.

Representatives of the CBN, Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and other key institutions submitted memoranda. The Senate said it will review all submissions before issuing final recommendations on the BOFIA amendment and wider regulatory reforms.