THE International Organisation of Securities Commission (IOSCO) has resolved to continue to protect investors, as well as promote the sustenance and growth of capital markets across the globe. This decision was made when the Organisation’s governing board and standard setting body – met recently in Toronto, Canada for a two-day meeting to brainstorm on the issues.

According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, (SEC), its Director General, Mounir Gwarzo, participated actively in the meetings in his capacity as the Chairman of Africa and Middle East Regional Committee (AMERC) and member of the Management Team and  the Board of IOSCO.

SEC explained that discussions at the meeting focused on priority areas of the IOSCO 2020 Strategic Direction which includes; identifying and responding to global market developments and the inherent risks, providing assistance to IOSCO members, especially in the area of capacity building and technical assistance, and supporting the G20/FSB efforts to promote stability in the global financial system.

Issues deliberated upon at the meeting included the risks posed by Central Counterparties (clearing systems), market conduct, cyber resilience and audit quality. Members discussed next steps following the just concluded work on cross border regulation and endorsed proposed work to provide further guidance to financial benchmark administrators on crowd funding. Specifically, the Malaysian and Ontario Securities Commissions introduces workable guidelines on crowd funding which are expected to assist other members in developing the necessary regulatory framework for this new but fast growing industry.

The expected frameworks from Malaysia and Ontario, according to SEC, will the commission a good basis to assess the robustness of its own framework, noting that the Nigerian capital market eagerly awaits the full takeoff of crowdfunding.
Its takeoff, the commission explained, will further deepen the markets in alignment with the aspirations to expand product offerings and boost financial inclusion as contained in the 10 – year capital market master plan.

In addition to approving work done on the risks posed by the asset management industry and the resolve to publish a report on liquidity risk management in collective investment schemes, the meeting also considered the need to give fillip to the growth of SMEs across global markets and approved progress achieved so far in the areas of special considerations which regulators and governments may be required to offer to encourage the growth and listing of SMEs on structured exchanges.

“As part of commitment to capacity building, members also resolved to support target seminar programs for staff of member jurisdictions in the coming year. They agreed to promote improved cooperation and exchange of information among themselves for enforcement purposes through the enhancement of the current multilateral memorandum of understanding. They praised the recent launch of the Global Database of Assessments and country reviews, which is aimed to serve as a peer review mechanism for members.

It is without doubt that a lot of IOSCO’s current initiatives will considerably benefit the fastest growing capital markets within its fold, most of which are members of its Growth and Emerging markets Committee. For Nigeria, the moves will give a much welcome impetus to the achievement of milestones set out in the 10-year Master Plan and the emergence of a modern, vibrant and efficient capital market in Nigeria.” It added.