By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The suspension earlier placed on an operator in the Nigerian capital market, Heritage Capital Markets Ltd, has been lifted.
An embargo was before now placed on the firm by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and also its directors and sponsored individuals.
But the capital market regulator disclosed on Thursday that the suspension has now been removed.
“The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday February 1, 2017 lifted the suspension of Heritage Capital Markets Ltd together with its Directors and Sponsored Individuals,” a statement by SEC said.
On Wednesday, December 21, 2016, SEC had wielded its big stick on Heritage Capital Markets Ltd in connection with the “unauthorized sale of shares belonging to an investor and its refusal to comply with the Commission’s directives in that regard.”
But Heritage Capital Markets Ltd, reacting to the suspension, had denied being “involved in such unprofessional act,” promising to “continue to engage relevant regulatory bodies to ensure that the issue is resolved in a timely manner.”
It had explained that on December 7, 2016, “we wrote SEC to intimate them that we have complied with their directives even if we disagreed with their judgment. We sent in a reminder on December 15, 2016, since we did not receive any response from SEC.
“The response to our reminder was a suspension letter from SEC and an orchestrated media blitz against Heritage Capital Markets Limited.”