By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The Securities and Exchange Commission has assured its Gambian counterpart of necessary assistance in their desire to develop more products in their bid to deepen their capital market.
Executive Commissioner Operations of the SEC, Mr. Dayo Obisan stated this when he received a Team from Central Bank of The Gambia who were on a study visit to the Commission’s Zonal Office in Lagos recently.
Obisan disclosed that the SEC Nigeria is making a lot of efforts to attract more Nigerians to the capital market, one of such steps is stated in the Revision of the 10-year capital market master plan which was launched recently by the Minster of Finance, Budget and National Planning Mrs. Zainab Ahmed.
He said, “We are doing a couple of things in Nigeria, just some few days ago we just relaunched our Revised capital market master plan. Other than the enabling law that we have, the capital market master plan is a 10-year document which we worked with in the last few years.
“Within this period, we realised that a lot of things had changed and there was the need to make some additions and subtractions to the plan. We needed to adjust and update the document to align with current realities for example when the plan was done things like digital assets were not really in the front burner.
“But today, digital assets, non interest capital market products are taking more prominent seats in financing. These I am sure would also be of interest to you as well given the demographics of your country”.
On illegal fund managers operating in the capital market, the SEC Commissioner said it is not peculiar to Nigeria, but assured that the Commission has put some measures in place in its quest to ensure that Nigerians are not fleeced of their hard earned money by these illegal outfits.
“Just as you may have it in the Gambia, we also have our own share of battles with Ponzi schemes, people trying to defraud others of their hard earned money. They are everywhere.
“And this always happens when there is despair or lack of hope, it does not mean one nation is worse than the other. But the reason why we are regulators or an upholder of the law is to deter and minimise such effect. Here in Nigeria we are working hard to ensure that they are not allowed to thrive” he stated.
Obisan told the Gambian visitors that the promoters of these unscrupulous schemes pose as operators in the capital market to defraud investors of their money with mouth-watering promises of return on investments.
According to Obisan, “This has made it difficult for investors to differentiate between genuine and false investment opportunities. The activities of these Ponzi schemes promoters have posed a huge challenge to the Commission. In combating them, we are working in collaboration with other agencies to nip their activities in the bud.
“Also, the Commission is working tirelessly to ensure investors are aware of these nefarious activities through investor education programmes. We urge the Nigerians to partner with us in the fight against Ponzi schemes by reporting to the SEC anytime such activities are noticed. We can be reached via www.sEC.gov.ng, +234-094621168 and the SEC social media handles”.
He stated that the capital market has a lot of products that appeals to all ages of people adding, “we also organise outreaches that afford Nigerians the opportunity to learn how to invest in the Nigerian capital market Including Collective Investment Schemes being managed by professionals in addition to exposing participants to the activities of Ponzi schemes and how to identify them.
The Executive Commissioner disclosed that the SEC has a dual mandate to regulate and develop the Nigerian capital market that is fair and orderly; and engenders investor confidence adding that a key aspect of the SEC’s market development role is enlightenment and investor education.
