The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), says it will align the 10-Year Capital Market Master plan with the present economic realities. The Acting Director-General of SEC, Ms Mary Uduk, in a statement signed by SEC’s Head of Media, Mrs Efe Ebelo said SEC would also ensure the planned review was concluded in record time.
Uduk made this known during a meeting with stakeholders in the capital market in Abuja.
She said the review was to align the master-plan with current realities on macroeconomic, political and market development fronts.
On implementation, Uduk said of over 90 initiatives outlined in the Capital Market Master Plan, 66 initiatives had commenced since 2015 out of which 13 had been successfully completed.
“Some of the concluded initiatives include dematerialisation of shares, recapitalisation of capital market operators, a National Investment Protection Fund and establishment of the West African Securities Regulators Association among others.
“Fifty five initiatives are at various stages of implementation and it is hoped many of them will be concluded before end of the year.
“Some of the achievements include e-dividend mandate, Direct Cash Settlement, Roadmap on commodities ecosystem, new listing and financial literacy.
“Others are law reviews and non interest capital market products among several of the initiative that you have collectively worked on,” she said.
Uduk while commending stakeholders in the capital market for their cooperation and support, also disclosed that the Commission had approved the rules on Green Bonds.
She said SEC would in the nearest future introduce the rules on derivatives trading which were necessary to move the market forward.
According to her, implementation of the Plan commenced under the guidance of the Capital Market Master Plan Implementation Council (CAMMIC), Chaired by Olutola Mobolurin and has made great strides.
Uduk said SEC and its stakeholders had taken up the initiatives outlined in the Master Plan document in a systematic manner. She said the commission engaged with government, its agencies and other critical stakeholders whose support and collaboration was required to achieve the objectives outlined in the Master Plan.
“All of these would not have been possible without your support, cooperation and collaboration.
“I want to recognise that the work that has been done by CAMMIC and indeed the key players in the capital market directly contributed to the development of not only the Nigerian capital market but the financial system at large.”
Uduk also urged investors to take advantage of the multiple subscription exercise to regularise their shareholding and get the benefits of their investments.
“We therefore enjoin the general public to take advantage of this initiative to regularise their shareholding accounts before the Dec. 31, 2019 deadline,” she added.
The Securities and Exchange Commission had inaugurated a 10-year Capital Market Master Plan in November 2014.
It was aimed to among other things, restore investor confidence, deepen the market, accelerate the growth of the capital market and help catalyse the emergence of Nigeria as a top 20 global economy.
