On the January 30, 2019, President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2018 (“FCCPA”) into law. The FCCPA repealed the Consumer Protection Council Act 1992 and created the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Council (“FCCPC”) in place of the Consumer Protection Council. Prior to the enactment of the FCCPA, mergers and acquisitions (“M&As”) in Nigeria were generally regulated by the Investments and Securities Act 2007 (“ISA”) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) having regulatory oversight. Presently, the FCCPA has repealed the provisions of the ISA that authorised the SEC to conduct assessments and approve M&As. These powers are now to be exercised by the FCCPC. Specifically, the FCCPC is vested with the powers to review all mergers and business combinations to ensure that such combinations do not distort or impede the markets; a function which was previously handled by the SEC.

Read more