By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
Capital Market Operators have been reminded of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s directives on update of investors’ Know Your Customer information which it said is still in effect.
Director General of the SEC, Mr. Lamido Yuguda stated this at the First Post Capital Market Committee Meeting press briefing held in Abuja Weekend.
According to the DG, “We have noted that the level of compliance has been low. Despite several engagements, we realized that as at April 8, 2021, there were still 4,012,311 (Four million, twelve thousand, three hundred and eleven) accounts with incomplete KYC information.
“This exercise is critical to deepening the participation of retail investors and we direct all CMOs to accord it the highest level of priority”.
Yuguda disclosed that a major highlight of the year 2021 is the reintroduction of periodic renewal of registration by Capital Market Operators.
He said the rationale for this is to ensure that operators in the market are fit and proper at all times and to strengthen the supervision and monitoring activities of the Commission.
The renewal process is electronic and the deadline for 2021 renewal is 30th April, 2021.
The SEC Boss stated that despite the turbulence experienced with the outbreak of the pandemic, the Nigerian capital market stood resilient adding that the capital market community contributed its quota to the fight against COVID-19.
He said, “I am delighted at the efforts that we made and pledge that we shall not relent in our efforts. To this end, our next phase of the support in the fight against COVID-19 will be the establishment of the Strategic Health Impact Fund for Transformation (SHIFT). This is planned to be a N100 billion fund for investment in healthcare assets in Nigeria”.
Yuguda also stated that the Commission is at the mid-point of implementing its Capital Market Master Plan (CMMP) and has commenced a review to update the assumptions, and align the plan with current realities.
Similarly, he said the Commission has released new rules on warehousing, collateral management, crowdfunding, fund management products and nominee companies to ensure proper regulation and development of our market.
