The House of Representatives Committee on Capital Markets and other Institutions, and the new management of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday in Abuja agreed to jointly tackle challenges facing the Nigerian capital market, whether policy, operational or legislative issues.
Speaking at the end of a meeting, according to a statement by Efe Ebelo, spokesperson of the commission, Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Babangida Ibrahim, expressed readiness to provide support by way of enabling laws to support the growth of the capital market.
Such partnership, he said, has become very necessary, given the impact of issues the nation is currently facing as a result of COVID-19, adding that the capital market is an option that can rescue the economy from collapse.
Ibrahim described the meeting as very fruitful, offering an opportunity for both parties to discuss “on some of the challenges that the market is presently facing. We have all agreed that there is need to work together to substantially reduce these challenges. These challenges include policy issues, legislative issues and can also be operational issues.
“But what is important is that we have all agreed that there is need to look inwards to see how best we can boost confidence in the market and to also make sure that the process of investing in the capital market is as simple as possible.
He said the National Assembly is ready to work with the SEC to ensure that the processes in the capital market as easy as possible to allow free entry and exit to investors.
“We want to see at the end of the day that there is easy entry and exit and that the processes are as simple as possible. People should be able to buy and sell at their convenience without any complexity in the process. You can invest in the market today and decide to divest tomorrow, you get your little profit and move on.
“We all agreed that these type of discussions will be as regular as possible, we will continue to exchange of ideas and be honest and sincere in our approach to ensure that we bring a new lease of life to the Nigerian capital market,
Ibrahim urged investors to remain patient while the issues are worked out to further boost confidence in the market, assuring that the National Assembly would note the key areas that require amendments like the laws, policies that require change, and procedures that require adjustments among others and work on them.
“We are aware of their plight especially their experiences in the recent past, but we will do our best to restore confidence in the market.
“We want to assure investors that with the new management we have now at the SEC, we are going to take the capital market to the next level” he added.
Also commenting on the outcome of the meeting, Director-General of the SEC, Lamido Yuguda commended the committee for its interest in making the capital market transparent and more investor friendly.
The committee, he noted, “is very important to us at the SEC. We have had very useful discussions with the Chairman and he has assured the SEC of the co-operation and support of this committee as we set out to discharge our responsibilities.
“The National Assembly and the SEC are very passionate about the same things like investor protection and making the capital market processes less cumbersome so that investors can access their monies more readily that it is at the moment. We hope to work together to achieve a capital market that we would all be proud of”.
Photo caption: L-R, Executive Commissioner Legal and Enforcement, Securities and Exchange Commission, Reginald Karawusa, Executive Commissioner Corporate Services, Ibrahim Boyi, Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Capital Market and other Institutions, Babangida Ibrahim, Director General of the commission, Lamido Yuguda and Executive Commissioner Operations, SEC, Dayo Obisan during a Meeting between Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Capital Market and other Institutions and SEC in Abuja at the weekend.
