SEC Nigeria wins 2013 ‘Most Innovative Capital Markets Regulator’ award

The Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, Nigeria has won the 2013 edition of the prestigious Africa Index Series Award for the category of the continent’s “Most innovative Capital Markets Regulator”.

The apex regulator of the capital market also won the award in 2012.

A statement on the commission’s website indicated that “winning the award back– to–back for the second year running by trumping all other capital market regulatory agencies in Africa attests to the high regard in which the recent course of the Nigerian capital markets is held in the international market”.

“It speaks to the significant traction which the three–year long reforms being implemented by the leadership of the SEC, Nigeria’s apex capital markets regulator, finds among foreign investors and observers alike”, the statement added.

SEC said it believed that these multi-faceted reforms had upped the Nigerian capital markets’ performance on all critical indicators in the past three years in unprecedented fashion.

The reforms, according to the commission, had institutionalised a culture of zero tolerance for market infractions and indiscipline through a strong regime of market enforcement and market technology improvement through digitization and ICT deployment, enhanced market depth and breadth through product diversification and improvement.

These reform planks have applied market wide in a manner that has impacted every facet of the market beneficially.

It was gathered that in adjudging the SEC winner of the “Most Innovative Capital Markets Regulator” award, the judges considered the regulator’s commitment to increasing transparency and efficiency, support for innovative technologies, employment of best regulatory practices, openness to foreign investors, investor protection (e.g. rules to prevent dilution and protect minority shareholders), visible impact and participation in industry associations such as IOSCO and efforts to create an enabling environment for the capital markets industry.

The Africa Index Series Awards were instituted in 2007 by the Africa investor (a strategic partner to the UN, World Bank and the New York Stock Exchange), a leading international investment and specialist communications firm, advising governments, international organisations and businesses on private sector investments and communication strategies for capital markets and foreign direct investments in Africa.

Africa investor hosts the annual Africa investor Index Series Awards which profile African capital market success stories.

The Awards are designed to recognise Africa’s best performing stock exchanges, listed companies, investment banks, research teams, regulators, socially responsible companies and fund managers.