By Dipo Olowookere
The need for companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to be truthful and transparent with information being churned out to the investing public has been emphasised by the Chief Executive Officer of the market’s regulatory agency, Mr Oscar Onyema.
The NSE chief, while speaking at a recent function, noted that when a company is transparent in its disclosures, accessing sustainable long term capital would not be too difficult to achieve.
He said it was based on this that the NSE has made it a point of duty to promote and recognise quoted firms with good corporate governance structures.
Mr Onyema was one of the keynote speakers at a capital market roundtable discussion organised by Aluko & Oyebode, arguably the largest commercial law company in the country. The event was themed Engendering an Effective Regulatory Landscape for Competition Law in Nigeria: Promoting a Fairer Market.
It was attended by various stakeholders in the nation’s capital market, including from the apex regulator in the sector, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Mr Onyema, while addressing the participants, stated that, “The NSE believes that promoting transparent disclosure can help listed companies access to long term sustainable capital that will enable them and the private sector at large, to effectively play a key role towards actualising sustainable development goals.”
He charged companies to embrace transparent disclosure because it comes with different benefits including strengthening investors’ confidence in the firm, which he said was vital for any organisation that wants to succeed at the market.
In his address on the issue of fairness in the market, the Partner and Head of Competition Practice at foremost South African law firm, Webber Wentzel, Mr Daryl Dingley, stated that, “You need to be upfront and also understand the public interest consequences of your transaction. Is it going to affect suppliers, employers or a particular sector of the economy?”
Speaking on why the roundtable was organised, the Senior Partner and Head of the Capital Market Practice at Aluko & Oyebode, Ms Olubunmi Fayokun, said it was to discuss frontline issues and to identify challenges relating to the administration of competition law in Nigeria and more specifically, the implementation of the recently enacted Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
Some of the other speakers at the programme were Mrs Jennifer Martins-Okundia, Senior Associate, Aluko & Oyebode (the moderator); Mr Babatunde Irukera, Director General, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission; Mr Mfon Bassey, Deputy Director, Securities and Exchange Commission; Ms Olusola Carrena, Head of Corporate Finance, Stanbic IBTC Capital; Mr Daryl Dingley, Partner, Webber Wentzel; Mr Eric Idiahi, Co-Founder/Partner, Verod Capital Management Limited; and Mr Ayodeji Oyetunde, Partner, Aluko & Oyebode.
Adedapo Adesanya