Newspaper owner lauds SEC’s initiatives

L-R: Director General Securities and Exchange Commission, Mounir Gwarzo and Publisher Daily Times Nigeria, Mr. Fidelis Anosike when Members of the Daily Times Management visited the SEC in Abuja, Thursday

Following the recent launch of e-Dividend initiative for investors in Nigeria by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Fidelis Anosike, Chairman/Publisher of Daily Times Nigeria Newspaper, on Thursday lauded the Commission for all the initiatives embarked upon to better the market.

Anosike, Anosike who gave the commendation when he visited SEC headquarters with Members of his management team, in Abuja, said that his organization is pleased to be associated with the Commission.

He also expressed the need for a collaborative partnership with the SEC as he said his organization supports whatever SEC is doing in the best interest of investors in the market to ensure that Nigeria has one of the best markets in the world.

Mounir Gwarzo, Director General, SEC, in his reaction acknowledged that Daily Times was a major stakeholder given its long standing record and archive of data.

Gwarzo noted that it was not about his person but the institution and the market. He said it is a moral obligation to do what is right; the stake is very high but has no excuse not to give his best in order to protect the institution and investors.

He disclosed that the initiative so far included the e-Dividend registration, Dematerialisation, Direct Cash Settlement, National Investor Protection Fund (NIPF), advocacies and widening the product range. He noted that the initiatives were geared to raise the participation of retail investor and ultimately provide comfort and enhance confidence in the market.

The DG said one of the challenging things the Commission has in the market is that the market is not deep and that is why it is encouraging companies to be listed on the Exchange. He said the banking sector constitutes significant portion of the market hence the moment there is a drop in that sector, it affects the market adding that if these companies list, should there be a drop in the banking sector, it will not significantly affect the entire market.

Also, the recently concluded judge’s conference was successful with 11 point communiqué as deliverables. He affirmed that a Technical Committee has been set to see to its implementation. He looks forward to having participation of stakeholders like Daily Times to join hands to propagate the issue of Sukuk, already a programme has been slated for March 14th in Sokoto.

According to Gwarzo, other initiatives/future outlook include, encouraging Unit Trust and other collective Investment Schemes, restructure internal department for better performance and build capacity; and widen cooperation with critical stakeholders.