Caption: From left, Executive Commissioner Operations Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Bola Ajomale; Director–General, SEC, Dr. Emomotimi Agama; Chairman, Committee on Identity Management for the Capital Market, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede; and Director, SEC, Mrs Hafsat Rufai, during the Workshop on Identity Management for the Capital Market in Lagos, Wednesday.
The Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Dr. Emomotimi Agama, on Wednesday in Lagos, noted the need to resolve identity management issues to help propel the Nigerian capital market to greater heights.
Agama who spoke at a Workshop on Identity Management for the Capital Market, is optimistyic that the identity management system being developed by the market will tackle the lingering identification issues.
He emphasised that identity management issues when solved will provide lasting solutions to the issue of unclaimed dividends, reduce the barriers of entry to the market, while making it more attractive to the youth segment whose participation is currently very low.
The aim of workshop, he noted, is to bring together stakeholders and industry players to discuss and seeks ways of addressing the lingering issues around identity management in the capital market.
Such issues, he continued, have plagued the market for a while, contributed to the increasing quantum of unclaimed dividends which seem to have defied all efforts to stem over time, and negatively affected the attraction and competitiveness of the market.
According to the SEC boss, “in view of the promise to stem this undesirable trend going forward, the Commission is very passionate about this initiative because its success would portend great potentials for our market.
“This journey began in the year 2018, following discussions at the 3rd Capital Market Committee (CMC) meeting of the year, on the need to address legacy identity management issues in the market. The Securities and Exchange Commission, therefore in January 2019, set up an in-house committee on the subject.
“The Committee was tasked with identifying issues surrounding identity management in the market, engaging with relevant stakeholders to document and proffer solutions, and make recommendations to Management,” he stressed.
Agama recalled that in a report submitted by an in-house committee set up by the SEC management, stressed the need to consolidate investors’ data and seek ways and means to finding a lasting solution to this monster plaguing the market.
Following the recommendations of that committee, the SEC DG said the commission, in 2021, set up a market-wide and larger committee, to undertake a more intensive study of the depth of the Nigerian identity crisis , and more specifically, in the capital market.
The committee was saddled with the task of articulating actionable and measurable solutions to the lingering issues like harmonising the various databases of investors in the capital market with a view to engendering data accuracy, and addressing the absence of a central repository of investors’ data for the entire spectrum of the Nigerian capital market.
According to him, “the committee, graciously chaired by Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, has its membership drawn from leading market players and institutions across the Nigerian capital market ecosystem, including the chief executive officers of Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) Plc and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).
“In the course of its work, the committee engaged the services of Ernst and Young (EY) as consultants to assess the current state of the capital market identity management system, undertake a cross-jurisdictional peer review and develop a future-state identity management framework for the Nigerian Capital Market.”
He stated that the postulations and recommendations of EY shall be the subject of deliberation for all stakeholders at the workshop which is hoped to assist in proffering a lasting solution.
Also speaking at the workshop, the committee chairman, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede enthusedentused that its work will assist capital market operators elevate their performances and commended the SEC for its suppose to the committee.
