Breaking: Cowrywise secures SEC licence, announces launch of APIs

Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has granted Cowrywise, a wealth management startup, licence to operate as a Fund/Portfolio Manager.  

Well, big news! We just got something akin to that from the SEC. We have been granted the licence to operate as a Fund/Portfolio Manager.

According to the company, it is the first fintech in the country to get this licence from SEC.

It comes just days after the regulator granted its first Digital Sub-Broker licence to investment fintech startup, Chaka.

The permit confirms that Cowrywise’s operations now fall directly under the regulatory scope of the SEC.

The company also revealed that SEC will now become its “guardian”, doubling down on its existing security structure.

Prior to obtaining the new licence, Cowrywise used a trustee structure to offer investment opportunities in partnership with regulated entities like Meristem Trustees Limited.

Cowrywise is the first fintech in Nigeria to get a licence in the fund/portfolio management category from the Securities and Exchange Commission

With this development, the fintech plans to offer more for its partners (fund managers) and investors on its platform.

It also announced that it will be making its APIs public to help fund managers across the world to access its services and open up more investment options to serve customers in Nigeria better.

“Digitizing the investment management infrastructure is an important next step in our vision to democratize access to investment products. These APIs do not just apply to fintechs; any company can embed investment features in their products as our investment API simplifies regulatory, compliance and technical hurdles,” Cowrywise explained

Since starting operations in 2017, Cowrrywise says it has grown to have over 300,000 users on its platforms. It also revealed that it offers about 21 mutual funds making it the largest aggregator in the country.

Going forward, Razaq Ahmed, CEO/Co-founder of Cowrywise says the company wants to  introduce 10 million first-time investors to regulated investments by 2025.