By Dipo Olowookere
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has suspended all physical meetings and visits to its offices till further notice in the wake of the second wave of COVID-19.
Business Post reports that Nigeria has been recording an increase in the number of positive coronavirus cases lately, sparking fresh fear of another lockdown to control the spread of the virus.
In a circular on Friday, SEC said in order to protect investors and not disrupt activities in the capital market, its operations will now become fully electronic.
The agency, which described the market-focused adjustments as temporary, encouraged capital market operators and other stakeholders to conduct meetings and other engagements virtually.
It also advised public companies to take appropriate precautionary measures as recommended by the federal and state governments as well as the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to ensure the safety of shareholders and participants at their Annual General Meetings/Extra-Ordinary General Meetings and other meetings which may be held during the prevalence of the pandemic.
According to SEC, the adjustments became considers necessary to sustain the actualisation of its regulatory mandate and maintain the integrity of the Nigerian capital market during this challenging period.
The agency said it would continue to issue updates to market stakeholders as appropriate and closely coordinate with other financial regulators and governmental authorities.
SEC said, for now, all applications should be made electronically to some dedicated email addresses.
It said for the registration of funds and other relevant filings, a mail can be sent to [email protected], while the registration of securities, public offers, mergers and acquisition, debt issuances and others can be done to [email protected], with fresh applications for registration of capital market operators and pending applications and requests by CMOs for an update of information forwarded to [email protected].
For filing of returns by public companies, it can be sent to [email protected], while CMOs can send to [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] and [email protected].
It further said shareholders with 5 per cent and more stake can file their returns to [email protected], while the AML/CFT can send to [email protected].
Lastly, investors and CMOs who intend to file complaints to the commission can send a mail to [email protected] or fill the online complaint form on its website.
Adedapo Adesanya