Aduragbemi Omiyale
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Some employees of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have been engaged by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on ways to handle capital market-related complaints.
This is part of efforts to ensure that financial crimes in the capital market are reduced to the barest minimum and the ecosystem sanitised so as to boost investor confidence.
At the one-day training tagged Enlightenment Programme on the Capital Market and the Investigation of Capital Market Complaints the Director of SEC Lagos Zonal Office, Mr Stephen Falomo, said the training was one of the strategies of the agency to drive the development of the market, while also sharing knowledge with the EFCC to achieve a well-regulated market that is dynamic, fair and equitable.
“The Securities and Exchange Commission is the apex regulator of the Nigerian capital market. It is empowered by the Investment and Securities Act (ISA) of 2007 to regulate and develop the capital market,” Mr Falomo said at the training held at the Conference Room of the EFCC Lagos Zonal Command.
He further said, “We are all aware that the EFCC is responsible for the investigation and prosecution of Financial Crimes and that a large chunk of complaints and infractions in the capital market can be deemed to be financial crimes.
“It is, therefore, imperative that the SEC supports the EFCC with up-to-date knowledge of the intricate workings of the capital market and some useful information on the investigations of financial crimes emanating from players in the capital market space. That is the primary focus of today’s program.”
The SEC Director stated that it was also very important to point out that the relationship between SEC and the EFCC dates back almost two decades; that is from the beginning days of the EFCC, adding that the two commissions have since continued to enjoy a cordial and mutually beneficial relationship.
Earlier in his remarks, the EFCC Zonal Commander, Lagos, Mr Ahmed Ghali, recalled the existing relationship between both agencies, and charged the participants to take maximum advantage of the training.
According to him, “I assure you that the facilitators will throw light on a number of capital market matters, where you may be having challenges.”
