SEC to conclude dematerialisation process in December

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has unfolded plans to conclude processes associated with dematerialisation in the nation’s capital market by December 2015.

Besides, the commission has closed down three of its zonal offices located at Onitsha, Ibadan and Kaduna in order to strengthen and fortify the other offices.

Addressing journalists at the end of the Second quarter Capital Market Committee held in Lagos yesterday, the Director-General of the SEC, Mounir

Gwarzo, explained that 17 out of the 22 registrars operating in the capital market has complied with full dematerialisation of share certificates.

Dematerialisation is the process of replacing paper certificates with electronic records at the Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS).

Gwarzo said that the commission was currently working with all stakeholders in the market to conclude the process this year.

The Director-General, who maintained that the commission’s regulation would be more stringent with zero tolerance to market infractions, explained that SEC has already instructed registrars to notify shareholders to elect stockbroking firms of their choice in readiness with full dematerialisation.

According to him, with the process, shareholders forms already with the CSCS would be passed to the registrars, after -which the registrars will notify the CSCS the broker choice of the investor.

He added that the commission had commenced public enlightenment programme to reach out to all states in Nigeria to enable investors to comply with the process.

“The process is ongoing, we are doing a lot of public enlightenment to facilitate easy take off, we advice investors to cue into the process,” Gwarzo said.

Speaking on the 10-year capital market master plan, the SEC boss explained that the commission has already set up an advisory council that would review the report and make amendments where necessary.

“We have the list of advisory council and the CMC has given us the mandate to select 10 to 12 people and very soon, we will come out with the list,” Gwarzo said.

He said that the committee’s work was purely advisory to interface with the judiciary and parliamentary, adding that the council will interface with the people working out the initiative and the master plan will be concluded this year,” the director-general said.