SEC to align master plan with economic realities

The Securities and Exchange Commission has revealed plans to align its 10-year capital market master plan with current economic realities as well as ensure the planned review is concluded in record time.

Mary Uduk, the acting director-general, SEC, said this during a meeting with stakeholders in the capital market in Abuja.

Uduk stated that the review was intended to align the master plan with current realities on macroeconomic, political and market development fronts.

Uduk said out of the 90 initiatives outlined in the master plan, 66 initiatives had commenced since 2015, out of which 13 had been successfully completed.

She said some of the concluded initiatives were the dematerialisation of shares, recapitalisation of capital market operators, setting up of a National Investment Protection Fund and the establishment of the West African Securities Regulators Association, among others.

Uduk said, “Fifty-five initiatives are at various stages of implementation and it is hoped many of them will be concluded before the end of the year.

“Other achievements include the e-dividend mandate, direct cash settlement, road map on commodities ecosystem, new listing, financial literacy, law reviews, and non-interest capital market products, among others.”

Uduk commended stakeholders in the capital market for their cooperation and support, saying the commission had approved the rules on green bonds and would in the nearest future introduce the rules on derivatives trading, which she said were necessary to move the market forward.

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She said the implementation of the master plan commenced in earnest under the guidance of the Capital Market Master Plan Implementation Council, chaired by Mr Olutola Mobolurin.

According to her, the success recorded so far will not have been possible without the support, cooperation and collaboration of stakeholders.

She said, “We are indeed grateful to the different committees through which a lot of the work on these initiatives has been carried out. It will have been impossible without your commitment of time, energy and resources, your drive and focus.

“I want to recognise that the work that has been done by CAMMIC and indeed the key players in the capital market who have contributed to the development of not only the Nigerian capital market but the financial system at large.”