The Securities and Exchange Commission, Nigeria (SEC) is currently implementing measures to encourage more listings by creating new rules, amending existing one and improving general review processes.
The regulatory agency says it is working with the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) to streamline approval processes and make listing procedures more efficient and cost-effective.
Director-General of the SEC, Lamido Yuguda, stated this at the NGX CEO Roundtable held in Lagos. He also said that the commission would set up engagements with issuers, advisers and other critical stakeholders to ensure efficient exercise.
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He went further to elaborate on a commission inaugurated in collaboration with the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA); the Securities Issuers Forum (SIF) which is aimed at providing an opportunity for issuers to engage directly with regulators on regulatory issues.
Let me reiterate that SEC is continually focusing on increasing the visibility and attractiveness of our market, and will continue to build a fair, transparent and efficient capital market.
The Commission will also continue to embrace the ease-of-doing-business principle by simplifying its process and enhancing time-to-market through the superfluous requirements that lead to inordinate delays in capital raising and other capital market operations.
This is particularly important so that the market can be deepened further and provide an avenue for hitherto inadmissible entities to be eligible for listing – Lamido Yuguda.
He reiterated that SEC’s mandate to develop and regulate the market while protecting investors revolves around the creation of an enabling ecosystem for accessing capital from the capital market.
In closing, he mentioned the commission’s comprehensive market and institutional reform program which is in its implementation phase, a market master plan that is intended to reposition the Nigerian Capital Market.
Nnamdi Maduakor is a Writer, Investor and Entrepreneur
