Aduragbemi Omiyale
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Nearly 12 years after it discontinued the periodic renewal of registration by capital market operators (CMOs), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has introduced the requirement.
In a circular issued on Tuesday, March 23, 2021, the apex regulatory agency in the Nigerian capital market said operators in the sector would now be required to renew their registration.
Why policy was earlier stopped
In August 2009, the then head of media at SEC, Mr Lanre Oloyi, had issued a statement to explain that the policy was scrapped as “part of the current restructuring exercise aimed at strengthening the monitoring capacity of the commission in order to address post-registration issues.”
It agency noted that in order to achieve this goal, the rules had to be amended “to remove the requirement for the periodic renewal of registration by capital market operators while at the same time enhancing its monitoring framework.”
Reason for the reintroduction
In the circular issued yesterday, SEC explained that the need to have a reliable data bank of all CMOs registered and active in the Nigerian capital market was one of the reasons for bringing back this policy.
It disclosed that the resumption of the annual renewal of registration by CMOs would strengthen its “supervision and monitoring of CMOs.”
The agency, therefore, ordered all the operators to complete the process of renewal of registration for 2021 on or before April 30, 2021, noting that the exercise can be done electronically via eportal.sec.gov.ng.
The full circular
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) hereby notifies the general public and Capital Market Operators (CMOs) in particular, of the reintroduction of the periodic renewal of registration by Capital Market Operators.
The reintroduction of renewal of registration is premised on the need:
to have a reliable data bank of all CMOs registered and active in the Nigerian Capital Market.
to provide updated information on operators in the Nigerian Capital Market for reference and other official purposes by local and foreign investors, other regulatory agencies and the general public.
to increasingly reduce incidences of unethical practices by CMOs such as may affect investors’ confidence and impact negatively on the Nigerian Capital Market.
to strengthen the supervision and monitoring of CMOs by the Commission.
Consequently, the Commission has amended its rules and reintroduced the requirement for yearly renewal of registration by all CMOs. This process will be carried out electronically in order to ensure efficiency
For registration renewal please click on eportal.sec.gov.ng.
All CMOs are to complete the process of renewal of registration for 2021 on or before 30th April 2021.
