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SEC boss, Gwarzo to lead regulators in Africa, Middle East

By BusinessNews Staff on February 26, 2015

Nigeria’s capital market got another international recognition on Tuesday as the acting Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr. Mounir Gwarzo, was elected as Chairman of the Africa/Middle East Regional Committee (AMERC) of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).

IOSCO is recognised as the leading international policy forum for securities regulators. The organisation’s membership, including SEC, Nigeria, regulates more than 95 per cent of the world’s securities markets in over 100 jurisdictions.

The election of Gwarzo,took place at the on-going annual meeting/conference of AMERC, in Muscat, Oman, United Arab Emirates.

By this election, Gwarzo is to serve on the Executive Committee of IOSCO, the highest decision making organ of the global securities regulatory organization for the next two years.

A statement issued by SEC quoted the new chairman to have appreciated AMERC members for the vote of confidence on him. According to him, his election is a further commitment of AMERC to build on the foundations laid in advancing IOSCO.

He said said there was still a lot of work to be done despite the progress made so far by IOSCO and therefore called on members to continue to render the mutual support and cooperation of past years for the benefit of investors, markets and indeed the world economy.

He also advocated improved participation in IOSCO work streams and other relevant activities to enhance visibility of AMERC members within the Organisation.

“The essence of our membership of this important organisation is not limited to setting standards only. As critical as standard setting may be to the IOSCO objectives, we also have a responsibility to build the required capacity and be able to deploy these standards for optimum result. We shall also find ways to take full advantage of the numerous opportunities which abound within IOSCO, either in the area of capacity building, enforcement cooperation and information sharing” Gwarzo said.

He noted that the Committee will continue to deepen discussions and debates on topical issues including but not limited to long term financing, financial inclusion and literacy, risk based supervision, corporate bonds market and regional integration.

Also, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between SEC Nigeria and Angola. The MOU covers technical support and information sharing between the two countries.

Meanwhile, the stock market continued its impressive run yesterday, as the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-share Index (ASI) rose by 1.18 per cent to close at 30,145.60, for the first time since February 5, 2015.Similarly, market capitalisation added N117.60billion to close at N10.06trillion.

[ThisDay]

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