Tunde Bakare
The House of Representatives Committee on the Capital Market and other institutions has restated commitment through making enabling laws to support the growth of the Capital Market.
Chairman of the Committee, Ibrahim Babangida stated this in Abuja, during an interactive session with the Executive Management if the Securities and Exchange Commission.
He said, “We have invited you to brief us on your activities so that we can all be very familiar with your work and how we can assist to deepen the Capital Market. We also need to know your challenges if any, and find ways of assisting to ensure that you do your work well. We are available to make new Laws, amend existing laws, resolve inter agency conflicts if any.
“We also need you to espouse your plans to us and let us know what we can do to make your job easier. We assure you that the committee will support you in your efforts to make our capital market one of the best” he added.
In her presentation, Acting Director General of the SEC, Ms. Mary Uduk said most of the Commission’s recent initiatives are guided by the ten-year (2015 to 2025) Capital Market Master Plan which was launched by SEC in 2014 for the purpose of positioning the capital market for an accelerated development of the national economy.
According to the DG, “In implementing the plan and other policy initiatives, the Nigerian capital market has been contributing its quota towards the growth and development of the country. For instance, with the dematerialization process completed, investors no longer need to worry about the loss or damage to their physical share certificates as they are now electronically stored.
Further, Uduk stated that the SEC’s e-Dividend system enables shareholders’ dividend to be paid directly into their bank account without the stress of dealing with physical dividend warrants. Also, the Direct Cash Settlement protects investors from funds mismanagement by ensuring that the proceeds from sales of their shares are credited directly into their own account, as against that of the stockbroker.
“We are equally working on ensuring that companies’ annual reports are distributed electronically thereby ensuring timeliness of information to shareholders and cost reduction to public companies” she added.