Following the recent appointment of new management and board for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), shareholders have stressed the need for the members to accelerate the development of the capital market by improving the response time to complaints and monitoring listed firms’ compliance with extant rules.
The shareholders applauded the appointment of Dr Emomotimi Agama, a technocrat, noting that the appointment would accelerate the development of the capital market.
The former secretary general of the Independence Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Adebayo Adeleke, lamented that a lot of complaints that need urgent regulatory attention are being delayed unnecessarily, urging the new board to focus more on investors’ protection to boost confidence in the market.
Adeleke urged the SEC to urgently appoint investors/shareholders’ representatives on the Capital Market Committee (CMC), adding that it is incomprehensible for capital market decisions to be made without the input of investors.
Congratulating the new SEC DG, President of Pragmatic Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Bisi Bakare, expressed hope that the new SEC boss would bring his experience to bear in repositioning the market and enabling the SEC to achieve proper regulation.
Bakare urged the new SEC board to tackle perennial issues bedeviling the marr the years, especially rising unclaimed dividends and frequent delisting of coket ovempanies from the exchange.
“The SEC management under Agama must strive to restore the glory of the commission as an apex capital market regulator while positioning the market as a role model for peers across Africa and the globe.
“The commission should renew the fight against abuses in the market by reducing infractions which have continued unabated due to unchecked malpractices.”
Also reacting, the National Coordinator, Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria (PSAN), Boniface Okezie, lamented that the immediate past director-general, on assumption office, distanced himself from shareholders’ groups, unlike his predecessors who held regular consultations with the leadership of shareholder groups on the way forward for the market.
He urged the new SEC board and management to do everything within their power to return the unclaimed dividend to their owners while urging them to work with the various stakeholders to move the capital market forward.
On the banking sector recapitalisation exercise, Okezie urged the new SEC management to enhance its capacity such that it is not overwhelmed leading to unnecessary delays in approving various applications by companies seeking to raise fresh capital.
Co-founder of the Nigeria Shareholders Solidarity Association, Gbadebo Olatokunbo, affirmed that the quality of people appointed on the board of the SEC signals fresh air.
He urged the commission to be proactive in its decision-making and avoid waiting for so long before making decisions on matters of public interest.
He said there is a need for the commission to work closely with the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) to get first-hand facts/information on happenings at the capital market.
He said: “Now that we have professionals at the helm of affairs at the SEC, the job will be easier for the organisation in the sense that they know how things were done in the past and how to identify areas that need to be corrected.
“With the current changes, companies coming for recapitalisation will be more serious in their approach having in mind that the business has changed and can never be as usual again, because we have professionals on board of the SEC now.”
