The Senate Committee on Capital Market has said that it is willing to encourage legislation that will improve investments in the capital market by ensuring the regulator is able to perform its responsibilities efficiently.
The Deputy Chairman, Senate Committee on Capital Market, Mr. Foster Ogola, disclosed this in Abuja when members of the Capital Market Committee visited the Securities and Exchange Commission head office, as part of its oversight function.
Ogola stated that the Senators were on oversight visit which is done periodically to look at what the Commission is doing and see how the Senate can support the SEC in their work.
“We are here to look at your performances within the year, challenges you encountered and explore ways the Senate can help to make you perform better as the apex regulator of the Nigerian capital market,” he said.
He explained that “as the apex regulator of the capital market, we expect inputs from you on how to deepen the market and make it more vibrant and if there are ways we can assist with relevant legislations we are willing to do so to grow the capital market and ultimately our economy.”
Ogola reiterated the determination of the Senate to make laws that will encourage new listings as well as help to revamp the capital market and make it more vibrant.
In his comments, a member of the Committee, Sen. Mohammed Shaaba Lafiagi, expressed the need for more interface between the senators and the SEC in a bid to look at specific issues and find ways of solving them.
Earlier in her remarks, Acting Director General of the SEC, Ms. Mary Uduk, commended the Senators on the efforts they have made so far in ensuring adequate legislation for the capital market.
Uduk however appealed to the lawmakers to assist in ensuring that government-owned companies list on the exchange. This, she said, will boost investors’ confidence as well as attract foreign investments.
She said, “We have very big government corporations that can be listed and that will give foreigners comfort to list too on the exchange. If this happens, it will be good for our market and also give confidence to investors.”
She disclosed that the Commission has embarked on a number on initiatives to boost investors’ confidence as well as deepen the market.
“We just ended our Capital Market Committee meeting last week, and one of the decisions reached was to give an extension in the deadline for regularisation to December 31, 2019. “This is in a move to ensure more investors regularise their accounts thereby reducing the volume of unclaimed dividends in the Nigerian capital market,” she
disclosed.
Uduk told the Senators that the CMC considered the issue and decided it’s best to give investors more time to regularize their multiple accounts in order to derive the benefits from their
investments.