Economy
ISB Confers SEC New Investigative, Enforcement Powers—Lawmaker
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Capital Markets and Institutions, Mr Babangida Ibrahim, has disclosed that the Investments and Securities Bill (ISB) recently passed by the upper chamber of the National Assembly has conferred the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) new powers to investigate capital market infractions and apply sanctions to culprits.
Speaking in an interview in Abuja recently, the lawmaker said this is one of the advantages of the new piece of legislature, which is awaiting passage in the Senate.
According to him, the bill has provisions that will inspire the confidence of both local and foreign investors as they can be assured that the regulators have been sufficiently empowered to deal with malpractices that undermine confidence in the market.
Mr Ibrahim stated that foreign investors and market participants would also be attracted to the Nigerian market because they will have comfort in the fact that the Bill seeks to mirror standard investor-protective provisions and practices in advanced jurisdictions, which the foreign participants are already familiar with.
On the reason for the new bill, the lawmaker stated that the current enabling law for the Nigerian capital market, the Investments and Securities Act, No. 29 of 2007 (ISA), was signed into law by late President Umar Musa Yar’adua in June 2007 (15 and half years ago) before the global financial crisis of 2008/2009.
Global financial regulators, he said, have made major changes in their regulatory instruments following the crisis to address some of the obvious gaps that contributed to the global economic disruption of the time, adding that such global shifts and other current trends in capital markets regulation have made it imperative to make major improvements to the Act to align our market with international standards.
According to him, the bill seeks to repeal the ISA and introduce new provisions that empower the SEC to collaborate with other regulatory bodies in the financial sector to manage and mitigate systemic risks as it confers new investigative and enforcement powers on the apex regulator, SEC, to effectively regulate the Nigerian capital market. It introduces the framework for the regulation of new products, including financial and commodities derivatives and financial market infrastructures, which are expected to lead to increased activities, and, thus, deepen the Nigerian capital market.
“The bill introduces stiffer sanctions in the form of increased fines and jail terms, which are commensurate with the severity of offences, and also serve as deterrence to potential future offenders.
“For instance, a jail term of not less than 10 years has been provided to address the menace of Ponzi schemes and illegal investment schemes that have caused heartache for thousands of Nigerians who have been victims of such scams. Other offences, such as market manipulation, insider trading, false statements in prospectuses etc. are also subject to severe punishment.
“The bill will ensure the diversification of the Nigerian economy away from a mono-product oil economy through the strengthening of the Nigerian commodities ecosystem with the trading of warehouse receipts and commodities contracts on the commodities exchanges.
“The bill also contains a legal framework for registration and regulation of new types of critical market infrastructures such as central counterparties, which will be responsible for managing the risks emanating from transactions in derivatives and other financial instruments, thereby ensuring the safety and integrity of our markets and boosting investors’ confidence,” he stated.
The lawmaker disclosed that federal government agencies, subnational, and supranational will be able to better access the capital market for both revenue bonds and project-tied bonds as the bill now contains adequate provisions that enable both corporates and governments to issue new instruments to develop the infrastructural requirements of the country.
According to him, “The bill will generally revitalize the Nigerian capital market, as it introduces regulation of new businesses, products and services that will deepen the market while equipping the apex regulator with appropriate powers to protect the market and enforce the provisions of the bill.
“In every sense of the word, this bill is truly a market-inspired bill. Inputs were received from all segments of the Nigerian capital market – the securities exchanges, commodities exchanges, the central counterparties, capital market operators and trade associations, chartered institute of stockbrokers, capital market professionals such as the legal practitioners as well as shareholders associations.”
By Dipo Olowookere
The local stock market firmed up by 1.13 per cent on Friday as appetite for Nigerian stocks remained strong.
Investors reacted well to the 2026 budget presentation of President Bola Tinubu to the National Assembly yesterday, especially because of the more realistic crude oil benchmark of $64 per barrel compared with the ambitious $75 per barrel for 2025. This year, prices have been between $60 and $65 per barrel.
Business Post observed profit-taking in the commodity and energy sectors as they respectively shed 0.14 per cent and 0.03 per cent.
But, bargain-hunting in the others sustained the positive run, with the consumer goods index up by 3.82 per cent.
Further, the industrial goods space appreciated by 1.46 per cent, the banking counter improved by 0.08 per cent, and the insurance industry gained 0.04 per cent.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 1,694.33 points to 152,057.38 points from 150,363.05 points and the market capitalisation chalked up N1.080 trillion to finish at N96.937 trillion compared with Thursday’s closing value of N95.857 trillion.
A total of 34 shares ended on the advancers’ chart, while 24 were on the laggards’ log, representing a positive market breadth index and bullish investor sentiment.
Austin Laz gained 10.00 per cent to close at N2.42, Union Dicon also jumped 10.00 per cent to N6.60, Tantalizers increased by 9.80 per cent to N2.69, Aluminium Extrusion improved by 9.78 per cent to N12.35, and Champion Breweries grew by 9.71 per cent to N16.95.
Conversely, Sovereign Trust Insurance dipped by 7.42 per cent to N3.87, Royal Exchange lost 6.84 per cent to trade at N1.77, Omatek slipped by 6.84 per cent to N1.09, Eunisell depreciated by 5.88 per cent to N80.00, and Eterna dropped 5.63 per cent to close at N28.50.
Yesterday, traders transacted 1.5 billion units worth N21.8 billion in 25,667 deals compared with the 839.8 million units sold for N32.8 billion in 23,211 deals in the preceding session, showing a surge in the trading volume by 76.61 per cent, an uptick in the number of deals by 10.58 per cent, and a shrink in the trading value by 33.54 per cent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Three stocks stretched the bearish run of the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.21 per cent on Friday, December 19, with the market capitalisation giving up N26.01 billion to close at N2.121 billion compared with the N2.147 trillion it ended a day earlier, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropping 43.47 points to 3,546.41 points from 3,589.88 points.
The trio of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, and NASD Plc overpowered the gains printed by four other securities.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost N6.00 to sell at N54.00 per unit versus N60.00 per unit, NASD Plc shrank by N3.50 to N58.50 per share from N55.00 per share, and CSCS Plc depleted by N2.91 to N33.87 per unit from N36.78 per unit.
On the flip side, Air Liquide Plc gained N1.01 to close at N13.00 per share versus N11.99 per share, Golden Capital Plc appreciated by 70 Kobo to N7.68 per unit from N6.98 per unit, Geo-Fluids Plc added 39 Kobo to sell at N5.50 per share versus N5.11 per share, and IPWA Plc rose by 8 Kobo to 85 Kobo per unit from 77 Kobo per unit.
During the trading day, market participants traded 1.9 million securities versus the previous day’s 30.5 million securities showing a decline of 49.3 per cent. The value of trades went down by 64.3 per cent to N80.3 million from N225.1 million, but the number of deals jumped by 32.1 per cent to 37 deals from 28 deals.
Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc finished the session as the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units valued at N16.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 178.9 million units transacted for N9.5 billion, and MRS Oil Plc with 36.1 million units traded for N4.9 billion.
The most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was still InfraCredit Plc with 5.8 billion units worth N16.4 billion, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.7 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units traded for N524.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira at the two major foreign exchange (FX) market on Friday as it suffered a heavy loss against the United States Dollar at the close of transactions.
In the black market segment, the Naira weakened against its American counterpart yesterday by N10 to quote at N1,485/$1, in contrast to the N1,475/$1 it was traded a day earlier, and at the GTBank forex counter, it depreciated by N2 to settle at N1,467/$1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,465/$1.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) window, which is also the official market, the nation’s legal tender crashed against the greenback by N6.65 or 0.46 per cent to close at N1,464.49/$1 compared with the preceding session’s rate of N1,457.84/$1.
In the same vein, the local currency tumbled against the Euro in the spot market by N2.25 to sell for N1,714.63/€1 compared with the previous day’s N1,712.38/€1, but appreciated against the Pound Sterling by 73 Kobo to finish at N1,957.30/£1 compared with the N1,958.03/£1 it was traded in the preceding session.
The market continues to face seasonal pressure even as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is still conducting FX intervention sales, which have significantly reduced but not remove pressure from the Naira. Also, there seems to be reduced supply from exporters, foreign portfolio investors and non-bank corporate inflows.
President Bola Tinubu on Friday presented the government’s N58.47 trillion budget plan aimed at consolidating economic reforms and boosting growth.
The budget is based on a projected crude oil price of $64.85 a barrel and includes a target oil output of 1.84 million barrels a day. It also projects an exchange rate of N1,400 to the Dollar.
President Tinubu said inflation had plunged to an annual rate of 14.45 per cent in November from 24.23 per cent in March, while foreign reserves had surged to a seven-year high of $47 billion.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was dominated by the bulls but it continues to face increased pressure after million in liquidations in previous session over accelerating declines, with Dogecoin (DOGE) recovering 4.2 per cent to trade at $0.1309.
Further, Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 3.9 per cent to $1.90, Cardano (ADA) rose by 3.5 per cent to $0.3728, Solana (SOL) jumped by 3.4 per cent to $126.23, Ethereum (ETH) climbed by 2.9 per cent to $2,982.42, Binance Coin (BNB) gained 2.0 per cent to sell for $853.06, Bitcoin (BTC) improved by 1.7 per cent to $88,281.21, and Litecoin (LTC) soared by 1.2 per cent to $76.50, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
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