Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), on Thursday said its correspondence with capital market operators involved in last week’s huge volume transaction of First Holding Company Plc’s was rather compliance related, rather than a query.

Recall that on Wednesday, July 16, 2025, 10.467 billion units of First HoldCo, the parent company of First Bank of Nigeria Plc, were crossed for ₦324.473 billion, in what was initially thought to be a bid by billionaire businessmen/shareholders to consolidate their holding.

The shares are believed to have been sold by former chairman, Ayoola Oba Otudeko to the current chairman, Olufemi Otedola, but the latter has since denied involvement in the deal, even as the identity of the new owner of the shares remain shrouded in mystery.

SEC Nigeria in a statement on Thursday, clarified that “in line with extant laws and SEC regulations, the Commission granted a “no objection” to the transaction after due consideration and in full compliance with applicable requirements.”

There was no subsequent request, according to the statement by Efe Ebelo (Mrs.), Head External Relations, “for additional information from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) following the conclusion of the transaction.”

She stressed that the commission’s correspondence with the operators involved was instead n”an automated compliance mechanism designed to promote transparency and ensure proper conclusion of large transactions within the market.”

The commission, she assured, “remains firmly committed to its mandate of regulating a fair, orderly, and efficient market; protecting investors; and fostering capital formation in Nigeria.”