SEC Extends Deadline For Trade Group Registration

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has extended deadline for capital market operators yet to register with their various trade groups.

The extension, the capital market regulator explained, became necessary due to low compliance by operators.

SEC gave the new deadline as Saturday, December 31, 2016.

Addressing journalists at the fourth quarter of Capital Market Committee (CMC) held in Lagos, the Director General of SEC, Mr Mounir Gwarzo, explained that the move was part of efforts being made to restore investor confidence in the Nigerian capital market.

Mr Gwarzo said SEC had developed rules on complaints management in February 2015, but following low compliance to the policy, the regulator had following resolutions at the Q3 CMC meeting, directed all market operators who are yet to register as members of their respective trade groups or associations to do so on or before October 31, 2016 unfailingly.

But he said at the end of the first deadline, the commission observed there was a very low compliance, which has forced SEC to give the December grace deadline.

The SEC boss said the new policy is expected to significantly improve dispute resolution within the market and ultimately reduce infraction rates as it streamlines the complaints management process.

According to him, the new rules outline a new and more responsive complaint management framework that requires the SEC, Self-Regulatory Organisations (SROs) and capital market Trade Groups/Associations to establish fair, impartial and objective complaints management policies for the handling of investor complaints.

He said SEC had been receiving the overwhelming majority of complaints from investors even when such complaints could be addressed more swiftly at trade group level and in attending to such huge volumes of complaints, the commission has had to allocate significant resources that could be better utilised in more effective market development and regulation.