Yemisi Izuora
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has received the Best Regulatory Information Management award from the Lagos Public Relations Industry Gala and Awards (LaPRIGA Awards) held at the Shell Hall, MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos on Saturday, 19 December 2020.
The award which was presented by Mr. Segun Mcmedal, Chairman, Lagos State Chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), and Ms. Yeye Agnes Shobajo, Member, NIPR was received by Mr. Olumide Orojimi, Head, Corporate Communications, NSE.
According to Chairman, Selection Panel, Muyiwa Akintunde, LaPRIGA Awards 2020, the award was presented to the NSE in recognition of its excellence in public relations and stakeholder engagement practices. “Following our assessment of The Exchange’s activities and the positive feedback from relevant stakeholder groups, the Best Regulatory Information Management award is indeed well-deserved. We also recognise the efforts of the NSE to promote professionalism and influence the capital market community to adopt best in class practices in this regard.”
Commenting on the award, Mr. Oscar N. Onyema, OON, Chief Executive Officer, NSE, expressed, “We are indeed honoured to receive this recognition. Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which continues to affect the world economy, The Exchange has demonstrated its resilience by maintaining seamless trading activities and business operations, whilst providing support to capital market stakeholders. We continue to engage with various stakeholders including Government, policy makers and capital market operators as part of our advocacy efforts to ensure positive impact on the private sector and more importantly quoted companies.”
“These advocacy engagements yielded significant outcomes including extension of time for Issuers to file Audited Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2019 and extension of time for Dealing Member Firms to submit their Audited Financial Statements for the year ended December 2019 and Quarterly Reports for Q1:2020. We further engaged the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) on the exclusion of the ICAN stamp and seal in audited financial statements.
The Exchange issued a Guidance Document on Companies’ Virtual Board, Committee, and Management Meetings to the market on 15 April 2020 as part of its ‘Guidance and Leadership Thought’ series,” Mr. Onyema added.
The Exchange has continued to implement on its commitment improve market integrity, reduce market asymmetry and improve the flow of information into the market with the upgrade of several platforms. In 2020, The Exchange released an upgrade to its Data Portal, X-Data Portal; Issuers’ Platform, X-Issuer; and its whistleblowing portal, X-Whistle.