The Securities and Exchange Commission of Nigeria says it has a robust rule making process, to attract key listings in the capital market. Director-General of the Commission Mr Mounir Gwarzo disclosed this at the last Capital Market Committee press briefing in Lagos.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Gwarzo said the Commission had done a lot in ensuring that the undue bottlenecks and red-tape impeding seamless listing processes, were addressed by the regulatory body.
He noted the SEC Nigeria had been in discussion with the Bureau of Public Enterprises and Bureau of Public Procurement to concretize steps and measures, to woo more companies to list in the market.
With the prospects of the listing of major telecommunications company MTN, the Head of the apex regulator for the capital market shared that the SEC Nigeria team and financial advisors for the company, had engaged in series of meetings and was looking forward to the big step by the company, which will be a significant listing for the market if I sail through.
On the amendment of the Investment Securities Act, the DG of SEC Nigeria informed capital market correspondents that the ISA committee recognized by SEC Nigeria had submitted its report to the National Assembly for deliberations at the Senate and House of Representatives.
Giving an update on the e-dividend registration process, Gwarzo maintained that the deadline remained December 31, 2017 and will not be extended because of the extensive underwriting, carried out by SEC Nigeria. He noted that 2.1ml Nigerians have registered which is below the target and due to this had to engage the bankers and registrars to explore ways of increasing the number of people registered.
From January 1st, 2018 the fee of N150 will be attached to the e-dividend registration, the Director-General implored the media and all stakeholders to help drive the sensitization process.
Looking at key decisions of the Capital Market Committee, Mr Gwarzo noted that the report on the Committee On Liquidity was received, the List of members of the Committee on Capital Market Wide Infrastructure will be released to fast-track activities in the Capital Market Master Plan.
In the area of Financial literacy, the SEC Nigeria DG stated that there had been remarkable progress in the development of capital market studies, for which the target for the roll-out of the first phase of the studies is April, 2018.
The SEC Nigeria boss acknowledged progress in the commodities exchange, which included the reconstitution of the Nigerian Commodities Exchange and the operation of the private exchange AFEX has brought traction and boosted the agro sector. According to him “Farmers are now encouraged to produce and export more of their products”.
Speaking on the Nigerian Capital Market Development Fund that was recently inaugurated, he said representatives of SEC Nigeria, Ministry of Finance, Shareholder Associations and Trade groups were selected to constitute the board.
Assessing the capital market and economy, Gwarzo observed that in the last 3 -4 months the NSE ASI hit 36.5%, while the FMDQ OTC achieved a 2% turnover and the NASD OTC also showing positive signs in its index. The economy on the other hand shows signs of recovery, with a 0.55% Q3, 2017 GDP signalling an emergence from the economic downturn.