2026 Outlook: Tax Reform Update and Trading Investment Plan Communication
Dear Valued Clients and Esteemed Investors,
We extend our sincere appreciation to you for your continued trust, cooperation, and partnership with Akinyele Oluwale & Co. Your confidence and commitment remain fundamental to our ability to serve you effectively across our tax advisory and trading investment plan engagements.
Tax Reform Update
We commend our clients for their consistent fulfillment of tax obligations and their contribution to Nigeria’s socio-economic development during the last fiscal year. Your compliance—whether as corporate entities or individual taxpayers—plays a critical role in national growth, infrastructure development, and public service delivery.
As we transition into 2026, Nigeria’s ongoing Tax Reform agenda is aimed at building a fairer, simpler, and more growth-oriented tax system. Key developments include enhanced tax administration through expanded digital platforms, the transition from FIRS to the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), reduced compliance burdens, and improved taxpayer services. Importantly, the reforms prioritize broadening the tax base rather than increasing tax rates, encouraging voluntary compliance, and strengthening transparency and accountability in tax revenue utilization.
Corporate taxpayers continue to benefit from reforms that support ease of doing business, clearer regulatory guidance, and incentives for investment and job creation. Individual taxpayers equally benefit from improved taxpayer identification systems, balanced enforcement mechanisms, and increased taxpayer education and awareness.
We remain fully committed to keeping you informed, compliant, and strategically positioned under the evolving tax landscape.
Trading Investment Plan Update
Reflecting on the 2025 financial year, we sincerely appreciate your patience, trust, and confidence in our investment operations. The year presented significant global and local market challenges that impacted financial markets broadly. These conditions contributed to the delayed and, in some instances, failed payouts experienced during the period.
We wish to clearly reaffirm that these setbacks were driven by market conditions and not by any lack of commitment, integrity, or operational diligence on our part.
Looking ahead to 2026, we remain firmly focused on stabilizing operations and addressing outstanding payout obligations. Strategic measures are already being implemented to mitigate market risks, strengthen performance, and enhance resilience. We are confident that these steps will support improved outcomes in the near term.
We deeply value your partnership and remain committed to transparency, accountability, and sustainable long-term growth.
Thank you for your continued support as we move forward together.
Yours faithfully,
Akinyele Oluwale & Co.
SEC Reveals Ambitious Plans for Super-App Crypto Platforms in Light of Regulatory Changes
On September 10, 2025, at the inaugural OECD Roundtable on Global Financial Markets in Paris, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Paul S. Atkins conveyed a powerful message regarding digital assets. He proclaimed:
"Today, ladies and gentlemen, we must acknowledge that: the time for crypto has arrived."
Atkins believes that years of depending on enforcement actions have weakened U.S. competitiveness. He remarked: "For far too long, the SEC has used its investigatory, subpoena, and enforcement powers to undermine the crypto sector. This strategy has proven not only ineffective but also harmful; it has pushed jobs, innovation, and investment abroad. American entrepreneurs have suffered the consequences and have had to spend vast amounts on legal defenses rather than focusing on their businesses. That era is now behind us."
While discussing "Project Crypto," Atkins highlighted the agency's transition towards a more organized regulatory framework. "A new era has begun at the SEC. Policy will no longer be dictated by random enforcement actions. We will establish clear and predictable guidelines to ensure that innovators can flourish in the United States," he stated. He directly connected this initiative to the White House's agenda: "President Trump has assigned me and my colleagues throughout the Administration the mission of making America the global hub for crypto—and the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets has provided a comprehensive plan to steer us in these endeavors."
At the heart of the strategy lies the need for legal clarity regarding token classification. Atkins elaborated:
"Our objectives are straightforward: we need to establish certainty about the security status of crypto assets. The majority of crypto tokens do not qualify as securities, and we will clearly define the boundaries."
In addition to classification, the SEC will support advancements in trading platforms and custody solutions. Atkins remarked: "It is crucial that we enable entrepreneurs to raise capital on-chain without facing endless legal ambiguities. Furthermore, we must foster innovation in 'super-app' trading platforms that enhance options for market participants. These platforms should be permitted to provide trading, lending, and staking services under one regulatory framework. Investors, advisers, and broker-dealers ought to have the liberty to select from various custody options as well."
The SEC chairman further stated: "In alignment with the recent Working Group report, the SEC will collaborate with other agencies to ensure that a platform can facilitate trading in crypto assets (regardless of their security status), along with services such as staking and lending, all under a unified regulatory framework. I am convinced that regulators should impose only the minimum necessary regulations to safeguard investors, and nothing beyond that. We must avoid overloading entrepreneurs with redundant regulations that only the largest players can manage." Atkins framed these reforms as a cornerstone for U.S. leadership in blockchain finance, aimed at fostering innovation while upholding vital investor protections.
