The Securities and Exchange Commission has stated that it will continue to collaborate with various market stakeholders to support the impactful digitalisation of the capital market.
The assurance was given by the Director General of the SEC, Mr. Lamido Yuguda during an interaction in Lagos.
Yuguda said the demographics of the capital market currently is greying adding that it is one of the things the Commission is tackling with the Revised Capital Market Master Plan.
Yuguda said the demographics of the capital market currently is greying adding that it is one of the things the Commission is tackling with the Revised Capital Market Master Plan.
According to him, “We are encouraging Capital Market operators to develop the technology. The youths do not want to come in and start filling out five-page forms because they want to access the market, they want to pick up their phones and make their investments.
“For example, our keen support of the innovation by the Issuing House to the MTN IPO in 2022, Chapel Hill Advisory, further promoted the benefits of electronic-IPO (e-IPO) which made it possible for over 100,000 new accounts to be opened on the CSCS, most of which belong to youths and women- key subsets of our demography which is considered critical to sustainable growth
“That is why we are improving our Know Your Customers; we are improving so many things to make it easier for them. That is why we are introducing these Fintechs. We are allowing these Fintechs to come because we see Fintech as an important gateway for youths to enter the market. We are conscious of that and we are working towards it.”
Yuguda said that the youths must understand that the capital market is a viable platform for wealth creation assuring them that the SEC and the market is working on how best to serve them.
“We are striving to improve the way we deliver our products, to improve market efficiency and to make the market attractive to them. Most importantly, we are doing all we can to ensure that investors are adequately protected in the market and that they are able to get the benefits of their investments” he stated.
As part of the digital transformation, the SEC DG disclosed that last year, the Commission signed an MoU with the African Development Bank to enable the SEC to have a surveillance system.
“This surveillance system is a system that allows the SEC, the regulator as a watchdog, to truly see transactions in the market live as they are happening, just to make sure that no market manipulation is happening.
“Right now, we tried to get this information but basically it’s with a lag but with the system that we are getting, it’s real-time. This will help this market; this will help the operators themselves. The regulator has their eyes on the market then people who are tempted to do any market manipulation will think twice before they do that. That is really healthier for the market” He stated.
