Acting Director General of the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms. Mary Uduk, at the midweek in Abuja said a number of initiatives have been put in place to protect and boost investor confidence going forward.
Speaking during an interview, she listed some of the initiatives as: the electronic dividend (e-dividend) Mandate Management System, Direct Cash Settlement, as well as setting up a committee on identity management in the Nigerian Capital Market Regularization of Multiple Subscription. She also noted the Complaints Management Framework among others, while enjoining investors to take ownership of their investments.
Uduk said the Commission is working with other major stakeholders in setting up a committee that will look into and proffer solutions to problems around identity management in the Nigerian capital market.
Specifically, the Acting DG said in a bid to boost the e-dividend mandate Direct Cash Settlement initiatives, the commission is already “engaging NIBSS (the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System) on behalf of the capital market community to facilitate identity validation and account validation in an effort to enhance market processes.”
She also challenged shareholders to monitor their investments in the capital market, assuring that the apex regulator will live up to its responsibilities on investor protection.
One way shareholders can effectively monitoring their investments, she continued, is by attending Annual General Meetings as well as reading company annual reports sent out to them.
“On our part, we protect them through the National Investors Protection Fund (NIPF) Risk Based supervision,” which enables the commission monitor operators and ensure that they do not engage in unauthorized activities, as well as the Complaints Management Framework which enables investors know where to channel their complaints and how long it takes for such to be resolved, she assured
Ms. Uduk expressed satisfaction with the way shareholders are embracing the electronic distribution of annual accounts by public companies, which she said continues to record tremendous success. Unlike in the past, she noted that shareholders are now willingly providing their email addresses, a situation she linked to the continued sensitization efforts in collaboration with other stakeholders on the benefits of the initiative.
Meanwhile, she urged investors to continually seek the opinion of their financial advisers on where to invest, stressing the need however, for “retail investors to invest in Collective Investment Schemes and Mutual Funds, because those are managed independently by professionals and they are diversified thereby reducing risks. We are committed to protecting investors in the work we do.”
On the need to grow the market for trading in securities of unlisted public companies, Uduk said the SEC is making concerted efforts, in collaboration with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), and other stakeholders to assist public companies that are yet to register their securities to do so without much difficulty.
On the role of technology in the Nigerian Capital market, Uduk said Innovations in financial technology, has made possible the potential of using digital tools to make financial services available to a wider range of consumers and enterprises, promoting financial inclusion and the affordability of financial services, adding “A financially inclusive society will provide increased access to finance, especially for women, help support sustainable growth and will create a million more jobs. The gains of having a more inclusive financial system are enormous, as it helps broaden financial markets and make policies more effective”.
These initiatives she added, continue to highlight and promote developments and trends in the Nigerian Capital Market and drive Financial Inclusion aimed at reducing adult exclusion from financial services.