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Zubair, Ag SEC DG, lauds CAMCAN over market growth

Zubair

….pledges support to association
The newly appointed acting Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Dr. Abdul Zubair has lauded the Capital Market Correspondents Association of Nigeria (CAMCAN) for its contributions to a more resilient and steadily growing capital market.

Zubair, who gave the welcome address at the 2017 edition of the annual CAMCAN conference noted that the task of developing and deepening the capital market was a collective one, saying that,

‘’the capital market correspondents have taken on an increasingly important role of communicating to the public some of the commission’s initiatives aimed at developing the market.’’

One of such initiatives is the dematerialization, which is about moving from physical to digital manifestation of asset ownership.

Zubair noted the dematerialisation process succeeded in less than two years from take off with nearly all share certificates now digitalised, thus overcoming the problems associated with damages to or loss of physical share certificates.

Other initiatives successfully achieved in the short while following the implementation of the capital market master plan are direct cash settlement, e-dividend management system, national investor protection fund,

complaint management framework, national investor protection fund (NIPF) corporate governance code and scorecard, as well as non – interest products, e.g ,the first issuance of a sovereign Sukuk in 2017.

Highlighting the performance of the market Zubair noted that as at September 2017, the total value of issuances in the market amounted to N1.55 trillion with equities accounting for 12 per cent.

‘’At the secondary market: total equities transactions rose by 78.6 per cent to N1.655tn between 2016 and September 2017, while foreign transactions increased by 47.31 per cent during the period

The NSE All Share Index (ASI) has returned 47.11 per cent as at Thursday, 7th December, 2017 which is a remarkable recovery for the exchange.

The FMDQ’s total turnover in Aug’17 was N12.9trn and N12.18trn in Oct’17 with Treasury bills dominating activities and the NASD’s trade on the floor was valued at N352.42m in Oct. 2017, 22.4 per cent higher than the level for January 2017.’’

Further development activities by the SEC geared at deepening the market, include a recent outreach in some area councils of the FCT to create more awareness through the design and implementation of laudable programs.

SEC also recently joined its counterparts all over the world to mark the IOSCO world investors’ week in Abuja and Lagos bringing together stakeholders, investors, and students to promote financial inclusion.

Most worthy of note is the investor education portal dedicated to educate investors of financial literacy and activities of the capital market designed by SEC.

According to Zubair, the contents have been uploaded and the portal will soon become accessible to all.

To further ensure market efficiency, accountability and transparency in the capital market, Zubair assured the investing public and all stakeholders of SEC’s commitment to ensuring an uninterrupted and orderly operation of the market and the regulations thereof.

He enjoined the media to continue to support the commission in disseminating information about the capital market pledging support for the initiatives of the association and continued support for a sustainable growth.

The CAMCAN members in turn appreciated the commitment of the SEC on market development.

The members represented by the executives led by the President of the association Mr Goddy Egene expressed gratitude for the support over the years and prayed for the association’s ability to do more through adequate trainings and development of the writers who make up the association.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the Financial Market Dealers Quote (FMDQ), the Debt Management Office (DMO) and the Central Securities Clearing System were equally appreciated for their unending support and the roles they individually played to ensure market growth and development.

The chairman and group director of Dunn Loren Merrifield, Sonnie Ayere led the conversation surrounding the conference’s theme: ‘’deepening the nation’s capital market for economic growth.’’

Other market stakeholders and operators represented were FBN holdings, United Bank for Africa, First City Monument Bank, among many others.

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Ihesiulo Grace

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