Economy
We’ll Ensure Investors Don’t Bear Unnecessary Costs—SEC
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Acting Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms Mary Uduk, has assured investors in the Nigerian capital market of adequate protection so as to make them have faith in the market.
At a chat with financial journalists in Lagos over the weekend, the SEC chief said the protection of investors was one of the cardinal points of market regulation that contributes to deepening the capital market.
According to her, one of the ways of growing and developing the capital market is to ensure that investors are able to receive the benefits of their investments.
“When people invest, it’s because they are expecting some returns. So, we ensure that no one takes your money away in an illegal manner and also ensure that when profits are declared, investors benefit.
“We also encourage investors to try to diversify their portfolio, try to talk to experts and also explore the different vehicles of investments in the market so, in one way or the other, they will diversify their risks,” she said.
Ms Uduk further said it was the responsibility of the SEC to ensure that investors are not short changed in any transactions in the market and therefore, urged them to participate in the market to grow it.
She stated that it is to this end that the commission is taking steps to reduce transaction costs in a bid to ensure that investors do not bear unnecessary costs.
“We are doing a lot to boost investors’ confidence in our market. But I want to say that both local and foreign investors are very good for the market. Investors’ fears can be of two folds, firstly they could be afraid because they feel that capital market operators will mismanage their investments, secondly is looking at the volatility of the market that makes investors sceptical.
“For the first scenario, we have a number of initiatives that we have put in place to boost investors’ confidence. We have the e-dividend mandate system, the Direct Cash Settlement as well as multiple subscriptions in place.
“For the second category, investors have to take ownership of their investments. They have to be able to monitor their investments, attend Annual General Meetings as well as read the annual reports sent out to them,” the Acting DG stated.
The acting DG said investors are also protected through the National Investors Protection Fund (NIPF) Risk Based supervision that enables the SEC to supervise the operators to ensure that they do not do what they are not supposed to do.
According to her, the Complaints Management Framework enables investors to know where to complain to and how long it takes for such complaints to be resolved. For those of the investors that are averse to risk, they should get their financial advisers to advise them properly on where to invest.
“We also advise retail investors to invest in Collective Investment Schemes and Mutual Funds because those are managed independently by professionals and they are diversified thereby reducing risks.
“We are committed to protecting investors in the work we do. We will keep working on our rules and the possibility of amending them when the need arises, we want more transparency in the market so that investors will feel comfortable and the market can be better,” Ms Uduk added.
On price movement in the equities market, she said the regulator is more concerned about ensuring an efficient market and a market that is liquid.
“For the regulator, what we are concerned is do you have an efficient market, do you have a liquid market so that transaction cost will be reasonable, so that someone does not take advantage of another person?
“But market can move up or move down all we can do as a regulator is to ensure that people do appropriate disclosure so that I don’t have one information and hide and then use that information to your detriment,” she said.
“But if all those are done and market moves up or down there is almost little or nothing we can do about it and that is the essence of investment. When market moves up is an advantage to others and some people to buy. The cardinal of the market is ‘buy low and sell high,’ so when it moves up there some people who are ready there to take profit.
“That is where we need the press to support our initiatives in terms of creating a derivatives market, it will help reduce the volatility in our market. It’s one of the efforts we are working to ensure we have a more efficient market,” she noted.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The federal government has been asked by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to suspend the implementation of the controversial tax laws.
In a reaction to the tax reform acts, the president of the group, Mr Afam Osigwe (SAN), the suspension of the laws would allow for a proper investigation into allegations of alterations in the gazetted and harmonised copies.
A member of the House of Representatives, Mr Abdussamad Dasuki, alleged that some parts of the laws passed by the parliament were different from the gazetted copy.
To address the issues raised, the NBA said it is “imperative that a comprehensive, open, and transparent investigation be conducted to clarify the circumstances surrounding the enactment of the laws and to restore public confidence in the legislative process.”
“Until these issues are fully examined and resolved, all plans for the implementation of the Tax Reform Acts should be immediately suspended,” the association declared.
It noted that the controversies “raise grave concerns about the integrity, transparency, and credibility of Nigeria’s legislative process.”
“These developments strike at the very heart of constitutional governance and call into question the procedural sanctity that must attend lawmaking in a democratic society,” it noted.
“Legal and policy uncertainty of this magnitude has far-reaching consequences. It unsettles the business environment, erodes investor confidence, and creates unpredictability for individuals, businesses, and institutions required to comply with the law. Such uncertainty is inimical to economic stability and should have no place in a system governed by the rule of law.
“Nigeria’s constitutional democracy demands that laws, especially those with profound economic and social implications, emerge from processes that are transparent, accountable, and beyond reproach. Anything short of this undermines public trust and weakens the foundation upon which lawful governance rests.
“We therefore call on all relevant authorities to act swiftly and responsibly in addressing this controversy, in the overriding interest of constitutional order, economic stability, and the preservation of the rule of law,” the organisation stated.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Demand for hot stocks, including MRS Oil Plc, buoyed the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.52 per cent on Tuesday, December 23.
The energy company was one of the three price gainers for the session as it chalked up N19.69 to sell at N216.59 per share versus the previous day’s value of N196.90 per share.
Further, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc gained N2.95 to close at N56.75 per unit versus N53.80 per unit and Golden Capital Plc appreciated by 84 Kobo to N9.29 per share from Monday’s N8.45 per share.
Consequently, the market capitalisation went up by N10.95 billion to N2.125 trillion from N2.125 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) rose by 18.31 points to 3,570.37 points from 3,552.06 points.
Yesterday, the NASD bourse recorded a price loser, the Central Securities Clearing System Plc (CSCS), which gave up 17 Kobo to close at N33.70 per unit against the previous trading value of N33.87 per unit.
The volume of securities traded at the session went down by 97.6 per cent to 297,902 units from the previous day’s 12.6 million units, the value of securities decreased by 98.5 per cent to N10.5 million from N713.6 million, and the number of deals remained flat at 32 deals.
By value, Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc ended as the most actively traded stock on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units exchanged for N16.4 billion. This was followed by Okitipupa Plc, which traded 178.9 million units valued at N9.5 billion, and MRS Oil Plc with 36.1 million units worth N4.9 billion.
In terms of volume, also on a year-to-date basis, InfraCredit Plc led the chart with a turnover of 5.8 billion units traded for N16.4 billion. Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc ranked second with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.7 million, while Impresit Bakolori Plc followed with the sale of 536.9 million units valued at N524.9 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
It was another bullish trading session for the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited as it closed higher by 0.59 per cent on Tuesday.
The market further rallied due to continued interest in large and mid-cap stocks on the exchange by investors rebalancing their portfolios for the year-end.
Yesterday, Aluminium Extrusion sustained its upward trajectory after it further appreciated by 9.96 per cent to N14.90, as Austin Laz gained 9.81 per cent to close at N2.91, Custodian Investment improved by 9.69 per cent to N38.50, and First Holdco soared by 9.35 per cent to N50.30.
Conversely, Royal Exchange declined by 7.22 per cent to N1.80, Champion Breweries shrank by 6.57 per cent to N15.65, NASCON lost 5.36 per cent to trade at N105.05, Sovereign Trust Insurance depreciated by 5.28 per cent to N3.77, and Japaul went down by 4.51 per cent to N2.33.
At the close of business, 29 shares ended on the gainers’ table and 27 shares finished on the losers’ log, representing a positive market breadth index and bullish investor sentiment.
This raised the All-Share Index (ASI) by 895.06 points to 153,354.13 points from 152,459.07 points and lifted the market capitalisation by N579 billion to N97.772 trillion from the previous day’s N97.193 trillion.
VFD Group finished the day as the busiest stock after it recorded a turnover of 192.0 million units worth N2.1 billion, GTCO exchanged 63.5 million units valued at N5.6 billion, Access Holdings traded 49.8 million units for N1.0 billion, First Holdco sold 45.8 million units valued at N2.3 billion, and Secure Electronic Technology transacted 38.3 million units worth N28.4 million.
In all, market participants bought and sold 677.4 million units valued at N20.8 billion in 27,589 deals compared with the 451.5 million units worth N13.0 billion traded in 33,327 deals on Monday, showing an improvement in the trading volume and value by 50.03 per cent and 60.00 per cent apiece, and a shortfall in the number of deals by 17.22 per cent.
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