By Adedapo Adesanya
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has expressed plans to increase its efforts to ensure that the much-anticipated Investment and Securities Bill 2021 is passed into law by the National Assembly in 2022.
This is as it projects that the nation’s capital market will grow in 2022 due to the various initiatives being pushed as restrictions of COVID-19 and its variants are eased and businesses and economies continue to grow.
The Director-General of SEC, Mr Lamido Yuguda, who was quoted in a statement released by the commission in Abuja over the weekend, expressed hopes that the market would witness renewed confidence expected to introduce investments from domestic and foreign investors.
Mr Yuguda said that SEC would also inaugurate the revised version of the 10-year Capital Market Master Plan during its forthcoming conference.
He said the plan would reflect the dynamism of the market and developments in financial technology, small and medium scale enterprises among others.
”As we expect improvements in both economic and capital market activities, we must remain committed to developing the market in line with the 10-year Master Plan.
”Some of the key initiatives to be pursued in 2022 are the repeal of the Investment, Securities Act (ISA) 2007 and passing of the Investment and Securities Bill 2021.
“In conjunction with the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) platform, we will provide the necessary incentives and support to attract SMEs to get listed.
”Already, rules on crowd-funding to encourage new funding sources for the SMEs have been developed.
”The SEC will continue to enhance the existing regulatory framework guiding the operations of the market by keeping pace with the evolving changes in market practices,” he said.
Mr Yuguda also said the agency would improve coordination with other stakeholders such as the National Assembly, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), National Pension Commission (PENCOM), National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Debt Management Office (DMO) and Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to create synergies toward ensuring that the objectives of the master plan were met.
He added that the SEC will carry out advocacy efforts to relevant government agencies to ensure the listing of their shares.
He explained that policies would also be championed to incentivise companies, like the new Dangote Refinery to offer its shares to the public and list on any of the commission’s registered platforms.
”We also plan to provide extra support to the registered commodities trading platforms to complement government’s renewed diversification efforts in agriculture,” he said.
Dipo Olowookere