The Securities\u00a0and Exchange Commission (SEC) has expressed its determination to raise\u00a0the participation of retail investors in the Nigerian Capital market\u00a0as that is one of the critical ways of deepening the market. Director\u00a0General of SEC, Mounir Gwarzo stated this when the Management of the\u00a0Commission visited the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) on\u00a0an advocacy visit on the 10 year Capital Market Master Plan. Gwarzo\u00a0stressed that the dominance of the market by foreign investors is one\u00a0of the reasons why the market is not as deep as it ought to be. He\u00a0said, \u201cOur intention is to ensure that we raise the level of\u00a0participation of retail investors in the Market that is the only waywe can maintain the strength of the market. Dominance of the market by\u00a0foreign investor is one of the reasons why our market is the way it\u00a0is. Although it is the pattern of the market, but this dominance is a\u00a0major factor because they are the ones that come in and come out. We\u00a0need to upscale the participation of the retail investors in the\u00a0market and that is why we are addressing some of their concerns. Anyone\u00a0you meet today and tell him to come back, the issue of unclaimed\u00a0dividends is always a major problem In order to achieve this, the DG\u00a0disclosed that the Commission has embarked on various initiatives like\u00a0recapitalisation, e-dividend registration, the Direct Cash Settlement\u00a0as a direct benefit to investors from the e-dividend registration as\u00a0when they register for e-dividend, anytime their shares are sold, they\u00a0would get the proceeds directly in their bank accounts among others.\u00a0\u201cWe are urging Nigerians to go and register to get their dividends\u00a0electronically. Once we get through with the e-dividend thing, we will\u00a0be able to deal with other issues in the market. The entire market has\u00a0commenced Direct Cash Settlement. The era when shares will be sold and\u00a0the proceeds will be given to the broker who will them pay the client\u00a0is over. What is obtainable now is that once the shares of an\u00a0individual are sold, the proceed is paid directly into his band\u00a0account. With this once the client has authorized the broker and\u00a0provided all his details, the proceeds will be paid into the client\u2019s\u00a0account. Gwarzo said that every year the Commission comes up with\u00a0various initiatives from the Master Plan and have been implementing\u00a0them adding \u201call the initiatives we came up with last year we have\u00a0implemented them. This year we also came up with certain initiatives\u00a0and one of them is the need for all arms of government to buy into the\u00a0Capital Market Master Plan. It is only in Nigeria that we have not\u00a0been given the kind of attention that the capital market deserves. The\u00a0capital market is the one that defines the state of the economy. He\u00a0expressed the need for some laws to be amended in order to grow the\u00a0capital market.\u00a0According to him, “For instance there is a provision in CAMA that\u00a0states that once dividend is declared, after 12 years if it is not\u00a0claimed it become statue barred meaning an investor cannot claim his\u00a0dividend. We don\u2019t think that is right, the international best\u00a0practice is that dividend must be in perpetuity.
\n“Once you can supply evidence that it is yours, that person should be\u00a0able to claim it. The lacuna is a provision of the law and we are\u00a0partnering with the parliament to see that such laws are amended and\u00a0we had an excellent collaboration with them”.\u00a0The DG further expressed the hope that incentives will be provided so\u00a0that companies doing business in Nigeria are encouraged to list on the\u00a0exchange. \u201cWe think companies should be listed on our exchange. We are\u00a0not advocating that it should be mandatory, but we feel the companies\u00a0should be given some incentives for them to list. We don\u2019t think it is\u00a0right for foreign companies to be listed in their home countries and\u00a0then come here and spend five, ten years and not be listed. Getting\u00a0more companies listed will make the marker deeper and these are some\u00a0of the initiatives we are pursuing this year\u201d he added. In his\u00a0remarks, Director General of FRCN, Dr. Mansur Liman said the primary\u00a0mandate of the organization is to inform, educate and entertain adding\u00a0that it is a responsibility bestowed on the organisation to educate\u00a0the Nigerian public on what the SEC is doing. Liman expressed his\u00a0happiness with the initiative and assured the SEC of the necessary\u00a0co-operation and support to reach the grassroots. \u201cE-dividend is very\u00a0important because it is the norm in developed countries and I think it\u00a0will help to restore the confidence e of the local investor. When\u00a0people invest and they are able to get their dividend and on time it\u00a0is a way of restoring their confidence.\u00a0“The international investors comes in to make money and when there is\u00a0any shock, they simply withdraw and their withdrawal creates a lot of\u00a0problems in the market and it takes a long time again for it to\u00a0recover.
\n“This is very good as ultimately the sustainability of the market\u00a0depends on the local investor and not on the foreign investor. When\u00a0the local investor invests and he knows it is not for making quick\u00a0money but for long term that is when the market will be sustained\u201d. He\u00a0added.<\/p>
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