Nigeria’s Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced the expiration of the penalties imposed by its Administrative Proceedings Committee (APC) on nine officials of BGL Securities Limited who were banned for between one and two years each.
The ban, in respect of the BGL Group in APC/1/2015: Rivers State Ministry of Finance & 31 Others, as well as APC/1/2016: Afolabi Gabriel Oluwaseyi & 9 Others V. BGL Securities Ltd and 22 others, according to details on the website of the SEC, expired between May 2016 and 2018.
For example, the one-year ban on Ms. Mshelia Clara Bittinger, expired in May 2016; while the one year ban on Mohan Lalchandani ended in May 2017; just as Adekunle Wasiu Alli and Nkechi Azubuike.
The two-year ban on Andre Ewubare ended in 2018; just like Joshua Sesan Adetiloye, Victor Inyang, Hilary Eledu, and Ehime Evelyn Alofoje.
Recall that the APC imposed a life ban on Albert E. Okumagba, Managing Director of the investment banking group, and Chibundu Edozie, his deputy from any capital market activities (READ MORE).
According to the breakdown of the APC ruling, which followed the appearance of the parties before the SEC APC, Okumagba and Edozie were also barred from occupying board seats in any public company in Nigeria. In the aftermath of this ban, recall also Edozie was forced to relinquish his position as a non-executive director of the Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (Transcorp) in 2017 (READ MORE).
Okumagba and Edozie were each found guilty of breaching “Rule 1(iii) of the Code of Conduct for Capital Market Operators and Their Employees as contained in the SEC Rules and Regulations.”
They were also fined N100,000 each, bringing total fines imposed on its officials to N29.1m, including N5m on BGL Plc, N23.2m on BGL Assets Management Ltd, while the registration of BGL Securities Limited was canceled, besides being fined N10.1m for breaching Rule 22(4) of the SEC Rules and Regulation, Section 60(1) and Section 38(5) of the Investment & Securities Act, 2007; as well as Rules 34(1) (e) of the SEC Rules and Regulations.
This followed the receipt of “32 complaints between 2012 and 2015 against the 1st to 4th respondents over certain conducts in relation to operations of their Guaranteed Consolidated Notes (GCN) and Guaranteed Premium Notes (GPN). Investigations revealed that the 1st to the 4th respondents had through the 5th to 32nd breached some provisions of the Investment and Securities Act (ISA) 2007 as well as the SEC Rules and Regulations.”
The breach of rules, the SEC management had said, “resulted in a loss of about N5,769,993,553.67 for 32 innocent investors,” hence the need to ensure justice to investors while granting all parties fair hearing.
The Commission said it invited all parties before the APC which sat on December 8, 2016, to hear the matter, receiving testimonies and documentary evidence that was tendered by various parties,” based on which it reached a final decision that was subsequently approved by the relevant authority.
While the 12th to 17th20th to 22nd and 24th respondents were seemingly left off the hook, the 18th defendant was handed a two-year ban from engaging in capital market activities, just like the 19th and 23rd respondent for breach of Rule 1(iii). The 25th respondent was banned from market activities for five years for breaching the said code of conduct, while the 26th respondent got a four-year ban; the 27th and 29th respondents got away with a two-year ban each; while the 30th and 32nd respondents were banned for 12 months apiece.
Besides the Rivers Ministry and other individuals, the complainants also include: Modotels Nigeria Ltd; the Church of Nigeria Anglican Communion; and UN Staff Thrift & Credit Cooperative Society; Nigerian Shippers’ Council; Superannuation Fund of the Niger Anglican Churches; G&B Marine Services; Abbey Mortgage Bank Plc; Kano State Investment & Properties Ltd (KSIP); Rosehill Limited & Alhaji Yahyah Suleiman; and Himma Merchants Limited.
Individual respondents also included on the SEC’s invitation were: Dafe Akpedeye; Mallam Ahmadu Musa Kida; Fatima Wali Abdurrahman; Adekunle Alli; and Mohan Lalchandani.
Others were: Teddy Okumakube; Loraine Awoonor-Renner; Dafe Oraka; Dipo Wintoki; Ekpungu George Abang; Adetiloye S. Joshua; Victor Inyang; Hilary Eledu; Ehime Evelyn Alofoje; Odum Bili Andrew, the group’s company secretary. There were also: Ofem Mbui Omini; Ms. Mshelia Clara Bittinger; Ms. Nnite Chinwe Ogochukwu; Peter Adebola; Joseph Ashley-Osuzoka; Andre Ewubare; Victor Obire; Nkechi Azubuike; and Anthony Nwozor.