SEC to align master plan with current economic realities

The Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, has disclosed plans to align the 10 Year Capital Market Master plan with current economic realities as well as ensure the planned review is concluded in record time. Acting Director General of the SEC, Ms. Mary Uduk stated this during a meeting with stakeholders in the capital market in Abuja, weekend. Uduk disclosed that this review is intended to align the master-plan with current realities on macroeconomic, political and market development fronts. On implementation efforts so far, Uduk said over 90 initiatives outlined in the Capital Market Master Plan, 66 initiatives have commenced since 2015 out of which 13 have been successfully completed.

Some of the concluded initiatives include dematerialization of shares, recapitalisation of capital market operators, setting up of a National Investment Protection Fund and the establishment of the West African Securities Regulators Association among others. 55 initiatives are at various stages of implementation and it is hoped many of them will be concluded before the end of the year. Other achievements include e-dividend mandate, Direct Cash Settlement, Roadmap on commodities ecosystem, new listing, financial literacy, law reviews, non interest capital market products among several of the initiative that you have collectively worked on. Uduk while commending Stakeholders in the capital market for their cooperation and support, also disclosed that the Commission has approved the rules on Green Bonds, and would in the nearest future introduce the rules on derivatives trading which she said are necessary to move the market forward.

The Acting DG said the implementation of the 10 Year Capital Market Master Plan commenced in earnest under the guidance of the Capital Market Master Plan Implementation Council Chaired by Mr. Olutola Mobolurin and have made great strides in its implementation efforts. Uduk said the SEC and market Stakeholders have taken up the initiatives outlined in the Master Plan document in a systematic manner while also painstakingly engaging with the government, its agencies and other critical stakeholders whose support and collaboration is required to achieve the objectives outlined in the Master Plan.

According to her “All of these would not have been possible without your support, cooperation and collaboration. We are indeed grateful to the different committees through which a lot of the work on these initiatives have been carried out. It would have been impossible without your commitment of time, energy and resources; your drive and focus. “I want to recognise that the work that has been done by CAMMIC and indeed the key players in the capital market directly and contribute to the development of not only the Nigerian capital market but the financial system at large.

She said the Commission appreciates the tremendous support and collaboration it has received from market operators and various stakeholders in the capital market adding that the partnership has advanced the collective aspiration to accelerate the growth of the market and contribute to the development of the nation’s economy. Uduk also used the opportunity to urge investors to take advantage of the multiple subscription exercise to regularise their shareholding and get the benefits of their investments. “We have recorded some successes recorded thus far in the regularization of multiple share subscription. Through this exercise, some Nigerian investors in diaspora have been able to consolidate their shareholding accounts. Similarly, several local investors with numerous accounts have also been able to consolidate their investments.

“We therefore enjoin the general public to take advantage of this initiative to regularize their shareholding accounts before the December 31, 2019 deadline” she added. Recall that the Securities and Exchange Commission launched a 10 year Capital Market Masterplan in November 2014. The Commission at that time believed that having just emerged from a bubble that negatively impacted the performance and confidence in the Nigerian capital market, it was expedient to come up with a market wide strategic blueprint that would 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.