**Senate Gives CBN Full Control Over Naija's Fintech Sector** In a significant move, the Nigerian Senate has handed over the reins of regulating the country's fast-growing financial technology sector to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). This decision was made public during a recent public hearing at the National Assembly in Abuja, where lawmakers called for a stronger regulatory framework to curb the rising wave of Ponzi schemes across the country. The hearing, which was organised by the Senate Committees on Banking, ICT, Capital Market, and Anti-Corruption, focused on the need to strengthen the existing legal framework under the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, 2020. The proposed amendment aims to reflect the realities of Nigeria's evolving financial ecosystem, where fintech companies now process huge transaction volumes and hold sensitive financial data belonging to millions of Nigerians. Fintech firms have expanded rapidly in Nigeria over the past decade, deepening financial inclusion and revolutionising the way people bank and do business. However, concerns have grown that the regulatory framework has not kept pace with their scale and systemic importance. The CBN currently designates Systemically Important Financial Institutions, but this framework largely focuses on banks, creating regulatory gaps for large, non-bank digital platforms. Senator Mukhail Adetokunbo Abiru, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, explained that the proposed amendment would empower the CBN to designate qualifying fintechs and digital financial institutions as Systemically Important Institutions. This would also establish a national registry to enhance transparency and beneficial ownership disclosure, strengthen risk-based supervision tailored to technology-driven services, and promote data sovereignty and systemic stability. Lawmakers rejected the idea of creating a new standalone regulatory agency, arguing that it would duplicate functions, create bureaucratic overlap, increase administrative costs, and fragment regulatory authority in a sector where coordination and coherence are essential. The decision to hand over full oversight to the CBN is seen as a pragmatic approach to regulating the fintech sector, which is critical to Nigeria's economic growth and development.