Bargain hunting gains momentum, boosts market value by N111.43b

SEC, NFIU to collaborate against money laundering, terrorism financing

THE equities market closed yesterday on a positive note, as Nigerian Stock Exchange [NSE] All Share Index [ASI] appreciated by 1.10 per cent to close at 30,601.13 basis points, compared with the 0.54 per cent appreciation recorded previously. Its Year-to-Date (YTD) returns currently stands at 11.70 per cent.

  Market breadth also closed positive as Nascon led 34 gainers against 11 losers topped by UACN at the end of yesterday’s session- an improved performance when compared with previous outlook.

  Market turnover also closed positive as volume moved northwards by 94.82 per cent against 34.43 per cent recorded in the previous session. Access Bank, Diamond Bank and First Bank were the most active to boost market turnover. 

  Nigerian Breweries  and First bank topped market value list.

  On sectoral indices, consumer goods recorded 2.15 per cent gain to emerge the most supportive sectoral index among others while  Asem emerged as worst hit to close with 0.00 per cent loss

  Volume shockers included LearnAfrica which led the list of active stocks that recorded impressive volume spike at the end of yesterday’s session.

  Meanwhile, the bond market witnessed increased buying activities last week enhanced by increased system liquidity and renewed demand from institutional investors.  Consequently, yields dropped by an average of about 10bps across most tenors

 Consequently, market capitalisation rose to N4.47 trillion ($22.59 billion) from last week’s figure of N4.45trillion ($26.51billion), an increase of N19.10billion ($3.92billion due to naira devaluation)

  Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is to collaborate with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to check the inflow of illicit funds into the Nigerian economy.

 The Acting Director General of SEC Mounir Gwarzo, disclosed this when he received the Director of NFIU, Usani Francis in his office in Abuja  yesterday. He also expressed the Commission’s readiness to work with all relevant government agencies and stakeholders to ensure strict enforcement of all applicable laws against money laundering in the Nigerian capital market

  Gwarzo said the need for collaboration with all relevant stakeholders has become necessary given the important role the SEC plays in the financial system and the need to police the market and ensure that activities are in the best interest of the Nigerian Financial System

  According to him,  for any operator  coming before us for registration, first and foremost, it is mandatory that they have a compliance officer.  “If they do not have a compliance officer, we cannot grant them  registration. Secondly, compliance officers must be very conversant with the workings of the NFIU,’’ he said. 

  The Ag. DG also disclosed that the commission was willing to work with the NFIU to build capacity through workshops or training exercise for compliance officers given that it is a recent development. He also noted that the responsibilities of a compliance officer goes beyond knowledge of the relevant laws that govern their operations.

  “The compliance officers thing is a new thing in the market, I am not sure it is more than five years since we introduced it. But I think there is more to it and it is important that we collaborate to organize workshop for market operators especially the fund managers and the stockbrokers, that deal with collection of money” Gwarzo stated.

  The Director, NFIU, Usani Francis, said since they co-ordinate all the activities that have to do with money laundering and terrorism financing in Nigeria, the unit is  enjoined to cooperate with all stakeholder agencies to carry out its duties effectively. 

He said the need to increase the level of collaboration has become necessary given the fact that terrorism can only thrive when the terrorist have access to funds and it has been identified that terrorist now use other sources to move money aside the financial institutions.

 “Even money laundering, we have identified that they use other sectors of the economy and we see the capital market as a vulnerable sector that they could use to acquire funds for their operations and hence the need for us to collaborate”.

  Francis assured the Commission of NFIU’s readiness to work with the SEC to ensure that the capital market remains free from money laundering activities.