IST, SEC Partner to Punish Fraudulent Capital Market Operators

By Dipo Olowookere

Chairman of the Investments and Securities Tribunal (IST), Mr Isaiah Idoko-Akor, has disclosed that his body will continue to work hard to bring sanity in the Nigerian capital market, especially in the area of resolving disputes and punishing operators found committing fraudulent acts.

Mr Idoko-Akor made this disclosure on Tuesday when he paid a courtesy visit to the Acting Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr Abdul Zubair, in his office in Abuja.

Explaining the reason for his visit, the IST chairman said it was mainly to seek continuous support of the country’s apex capital market regulatory body in prosecuting fraudulent capital market operators.

Mr Idoko-Akor praised SEC for coming up with various initiatives aimed to restore confidence of investors in the market.

According to him, the ongoing e-dividend registration exercise, which ends this Sunday, was one of such initiatives aimed at reducing infractions in the market.

He said with that in place, it would be difficult for stockbrokers to play smart on investors.

However, he urged SEC to do more to enlighten and sensitise investing public on ways to seek redress on capital disputes.

In addition, Mr Idoko-Akor said as the market was growing bigger, the IST would need more funds to carry out its operations.

“We want to continue to serve everyone better and as the market expands, we would need more funds to carry out our functions,” he said.

In his remarks, the Acting DG of SEC, Mr Abdul Zubair, commended the IST for its wonderful works in the nation’s capital market.

He assured the tribunal chairman of his agency’s continuous support in curbing infractions in the market.

According to him, the regulator was ready to partner with the relevant agencies to ensure zero tolerance on capital market infractions, promising that anyone that flouts the rules would be made to face the consequences of such action.

According to him, SEC will continue to protect the interest of investing public and would not allow any operator to stain the good works the agency was doing.