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Barring any last minute change in decision, the Investments And Securities Bill 2023 that will prescribe stiffer punishment for operators of Ponzi scheme in the domestic economy is expected to be signed into law by President Mohammadu Buhari before May 29.
The Director of the Bank Examination Department, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Company (NDIC), Michael Oladele, had recently disclosed that no less than N911.45 billion has been lost to various Ponzi schemes and related frauds across the country in the last 23 years.
The Investments and Securities Bill (ISB) 2023 amongst others also provide expansion of the categories of issuers of securities, and better coverage of some new products.
The Director General of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr. Lamido Yuguda gave this update on Thursday during a virtual meeting on the post 1st 2023 Capital Market Committee (CMC) Meeting held in Abuja.
The SEC DG who expressed optimism that President Buhari will accent to the ISB Bill 2023 before handling over on May 29, noted that his policies has been instrumental to the successes recorded by the commission in the last couple of years.
He said the ISB Bill 2023 which has already been passed by the Senate also has provisions for regulation of commodities exchanges and other operators in the commodities trading ecosystem.
“This is a significant development for the Nigerian capital market. The Bill is expected to be presented to President Muhammadu Buhari for his accent.
Speaking on companies who have delisted their equities from the stock market, Mr. Yuguda said the commission do not discriminate between minority or majority shareholder, as company’s applications for delisting are well scrutinized to ensure that all categories of Investors are fairly treated.
According to him, investors interest in any listed company is key to the commission, nothing that the SEC will not spare any effort at protecting Minor or majority shareholder in the domestic market.
Further on Investors interest in the market, he said investors can also approach the unclaimed Trust Fund (ITF), saying machinery is being put in place to ensure that the fund do not lay idle, but functioning to add value to the economy.
Addressing challenges currently in the equities market, as regards investors shying away from equities investment, the SEC boss informed that, ” the Nigerian market inspite of all the challenges, both locally and globally is doing well when compared to other jurisdiction.
“Although at the moment we are having challenges with forex. A lot of economic development in the country is laying the foundation for a very vibrant economy growth. Major economic drivers, like the Dangote refinery with it’s 600,000 oil per day production will help conserve foreign exchange that will be expended on fuel importation.
“Non oil sources of revenue when fully developed, we will have higher foreign earnings to drive our growth and development”, he added.
Earlier, the SEC DG while giving highlights of discussion during the CMC meeting held on Wednesday, said, “dditionally, the Committee engaged the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) on modalities to establish an Energy Exchange. On its part, the Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation (NAIC) worked with the Commission to continuously reduce risks in the agricultural value chain.
“The Financial Literacy Technical Committee (FLTC) informed the meeting that as part of efforts to introduce capital market studies (CMS) into both secondary and tertiary educational institutions, the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) has been providing all the necessary support to the committee.
“Also, the committee has organized series of public enlightenment programmes through conferences and social media platforms.The e-Dividend Mandate Management Committee notified members of efforts to rebuild the E-Dividend Mandate Management System (e-DMMS).
“The Committee reported on the redesigned e-DMMS platform, which incorporated stakeholder feedback. The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS) will be responsible for hosting and disseminating a comprehensive e-dividend form, while Registrars will validate them as part of the dividend payment process. The proposed launch date of the redesigned e-DMMS platform is July 31, 2023.
“The Non-Interest Capital Market Implementation Committee provided updates on various activities, including its ongoing engagement with the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) on the recently released regulations on taxation of non-interest financial instruments.
“The committee informed the meeting that SEC has received feedback from stakeholders on exposure of draft Rules on Shari’ah Advisory Services. Given the availability of tax regulations for the non-interest segment of the market, and advancements in information technology, issuers of securities and their advisers were admonished to take advantage of the conducive environment to come up with financial products that will appeal to target classes of investors
