SEC Seals Firm for Illegal Fund Mgt Activities

• SEC Seals Firm for Illegal Fund Mgt Activities

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in its onslaught against illegal fund management, has sealed off the premises of Growing Circle, a Lagos based fund management firm, for illegal fund management.

“They do not have registration with the SEC and the Commission has powers according to Section 13 (w) of ISA 2007, to shut down any company carrying out capital market activities without due registration,” the apex regulator said.

Speaking further on this, SEC said the company was not licensed to carry out investments business of any type and as such, its closure was to end unlawful activities of the company against unsuspecting investors. The Commission, therefore, urged investors to exercise due diligence and caution by ensuring that they only deal with fund managers that are registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“The accounts of the company have been frozen and the promoters have been arrested by the Nigeria Police Force and are undergoing interrogation.

“The commission wishes to notify the investing public that the company is not licensed to carry out investments business of any type and as such its operations are illegal.

“SEC, therefore, advises the public to exercise due diligence and caution in the course of making investment decisions. A valid licence of lawful operators can be obtained on the commission’s website by members of the public to confirm the licences of firms with which they intend to carry out investment activities,” SEC said.

It was gathered that the company carries out free seminars at its Lagos office for people to learn more about their products and money-making business, padded with unbeatable compensation plans and huge bonuses.

Growing Circles, which engages in networking business, has an entry-level registration fee of N10,000, in this plan, the entrant is not entitled to products while the second category has a registration fee of N16,000 that entitles the entrant to receive products.

SEC, however, disclosed that after registration, the members claimed that they did not get any product from the company and all efforts to retrieve their funds proved abortive.