By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Members of a Market Wide FinTech Committee headed by an Executive Director at Access Bank, Mr Ade Bajomo, have been asked to come up with a FinTech Roadmap for the Nigerian Capital Market.
The committee was given this task during its inauguration by the Capital Market Committee (CMC) on Wednesday in Lagos.
Acting Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms Mary Uduk, expressed the need for the Nigerian capital market to transit towards a technology-driven one as is obtainable in other economies.
Ms Uduk, who pointed out that the commission was interested in investments that Nigerians were making, especially with the advent of digitalization, enjoined the committee to come up with guidelines on the direction the market needs to go on FinTech.
“We don’t want a situation where we would be doing things differently, we want a cohesive FinTech Roadmap that would guide and help the market to be able to operate in an optimal way.
“If we will regulate and operate in this market and understand what is happening, we need to understand the rudiments of FinTech.
“Very soon, the whole world will move to technology for regulation. Other jurisdictions have already gone far into it with some of them already amending their rules in that direction,” she said.
“The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) is on it and there is a lot on it already all over the world and we can’t be left behind.
“We are very much interested in some of the most active areas of Fintech innovation like blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies and how they affect investors,” the SEC chief added.
Ms Uduk noted further that as the regulator of the capital market, it was the responsibility of the SEC to find out how such investments were being deployed and if they meet set standards because when investors lose money they will come back to the SEC.
According to the SEC boss, that is why the commission is seeking to understand what FinTech is all about to enable the Commission regulate the market properly.
While alluding to the growing influence of Fintechs in the capital market, Ms Uduk urged investors to take advantage of Fintech offerings in moving the capital market forward. She equally emphasized the focus of the Commission on capacity building, knowledge sharing, advocacy and collaboration with relevant organisations.
The CMC was mainly established to serve as a medium for exchange of ideas among market stakeholders as well as for feedback to SEC on how to continuously improve the market activities and regulation.
It is an industry-wide committee comprising members of the commission, representatives of capital market operators and trade groups and other stakeholders. The CMC meets every quarter to deliberate on various issues affecting the market and other policy matters.
Adedapo Adesanya