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Stockbrokers plan MoU with accountants, lawyers

By on February 14, 2015

The Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS) will soon sign a memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Institute of Chartered Accounts of Nigeria (ICAN) and Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) as part of CIS’ efforts to further deepen its collaboration with professional institutes with similar interests.

President of CIS, Mr. Albert Okumagba disclosed this in Lagos when the Institute hosted the Board of Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria (APBN) in Lagos on Tuesday.

He told the APBN that the CIS is a professional body chartered by Act 105 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria of 1992.

“It is the only professional body in Nigeria empowered to conduct qualifying examinations and provide professional qualifications for stockbrokers, securities dealers, financial & investment analysts, portfolio & funds managers. The institute also regulates the activities of its members and matters connected therewith. The institute’s qualification is widely recognised both within and outside Nigeria as a professional business qualification,” he said.

According to Okumagba, CIS takes the issue of ethical behaviour and professional conduct of members of its members very seriously.

“To this end members are expected to adhere to a Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct which conform to international standards. Furthermore, CIS has an effective disciplinary machinery, which promptly attends to complaints on any member of the Institute and metes out appropriate sanctions as deemed necessary on proven professional misconduct. The disciplinary scheme consists of an Investigating Panel and a Disciplinary Tribunal, which has a legal assessor in attendance at all times,” he added.

The CIS boss said the Institute intend to  mobilising  150,000 young graduates annually, in  first quarter 2015 and one million students before the end of 2015,  into the investment world  as entrepreneurs through its diploma programme.

According to him, the programme is part of the Institute’s primary mandate of building capacity and certifying practitioners in the capital market.

“The CIS Professional Diploma in Securities and Investment was designed to open doors of opportunity to individuals who do not possess university degrees or its equivalents and who were hitherto shut out of the Institute’s programmes. The programme therefore created the much needed alternative entry point for teeming young Nigerian aspiring to become capital market practitioners. Graduates of the programme have a choice to further their professional competence by writing the final level of the main professional examination, thereby acquiring the full certification,” he said.

On advocacy, Okumagba said CIS had been s in collaborating other  key stakeholders in the capital market to put in place measures to stabilise the capital market from recent economic shocks, and to form an alliance for engagement with the government, and advocating for best practices in the financial system.

 

[ThisDay]