The Securities and Exchange Commission has said it will strictly enforce all rules that guide the operations of the capital market in order to restore investors’ confidence.
The Director-General, SEC, Lamido Yuguda, said this at the first Capital Market Committee meeting, which was attended virtually by over 240 stakeholders in the capital market.
The meeting marked the first interaction between the newly inaugurated executive management team of the commission and the capital market community.
At the meeting, the SEC DG assured market participants of the commission’s collective commitment to continue implementing the ongoing initiatives of the Nigerian Capital Market Master Plan and other related initiatives targeted at developing the capital market.
He promised to continuously seek ways of improving these initiatives, saying efforts were being made to introduce new ones to the benefit of capital market stakeholders.
Yuguda said in order to increase the visibility and attractiveness of the capital market, the commission would work towards maintaining an environment enabled by the appropriate regulatory frameworks.
According to him, this will be implemented through timely and affordable access to the capital market, zero tolerance for infractions, heightened investor confidence and awareness, innovative product development and good governance practices.
He said, “We need to restore investor confidence and attract the retail and young investors into the market.
“Thus, we will ensure strict enforcement of our rules and regulations, strengthen our enforcement regime and clamp down on illegal operators luring unsuspecting investors with various Ponzi schemes.”
Yuguda said to support the Fedral Government’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, SEC had set up the Capital Market Support Committee on COVID-19, headed by Mr Ariyo Olushekun, to raise funds and offer various supports towards combating the pandemic.
He said with the support of various market participants, the committee, on behalf of the Nigerian capital market, had so far donated five ambulances to various state governments as well as the Federal Capital Territory and the Presidential Task Force on COVID -19
