By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Tuesday, October 15, 2019, announced that the amendments made to two new rules recently approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) would become effective next week.
In a notice to the market, the stock market regulator said Amendments to Dealing Members’ Rules Part IX-Rules on Online Trading Portas, which were approved by SEC on August 19, 2019, would take effect from Monday, October 21, 2019.
Also, the Amendments to Dealing Members Rule 1.11 (Part XVII)-Dealing Member to Sponsor Application for Quotations, which was approved too on the same day, would take effect from Monday, October 21, 2019.
In the disclosure signed by the Executive Director in charge of Regulation at the NSE, Ms Tinuade Awe, the stock exchange said, “Please do not hesitate to seek clarification via electronic mail to the above mentioned person, or Mr Oluwatoyin Adenugba ([email protected]), Head, Rules and Interpretation at the exchange if you have any questions regarding the foregoing.”
The said above person is Mr Olufemi Shobanjo, who can be reached via [email protected].
The new rules stipulated that no brokerage firms must operate an online trading portal without subjecting it to Vulnerability Assessment Penetration Testing (VAPT) by an authorized, credible Information Security company (VAPT Assessor) on a regular basis and in any event not less than twice every year.
It was noted that for existing online trading portal, the operators must within three months of the effective date confirm that it has procured a dedicated and secure network connection, and an approved OMS.
The NSE further said to operating an online trading platform, stockbrokers must put in place at least two factor authentication, encryption, secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTPS), extended validation, policies and procedures to mitigate and guard their online trading portals from fraud, cyber-crime and other risks to the firm and its clients and other security standards as the NSE may prescribe from time to time.
The NSE said it would want all trading activities on the online trading portal be duly monitored and supervised by an authorized clerk employed by the brokerage company.
However, stockbrokers must disclose to their clients, via their online trading portals, and on their account opening forms, the risks associated with using the online trading portal.
Adedapo Adesanya