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SEC, judiciary collaborate on investor protection

By on February 27, 2016

The Securities and Exchange Commission and the judiciary have pledged to collaborate in a bid to boost investor confidence in the dispute resolution mechanisms available in the Nigerian capital market.

The Director-General, SEC, Mounir Gwarzo, disclosed this at the 2016 Judges Workshop organised in collaboration with the National Judicial Institute in Abuja, on Wednesday, according to a statement from the commission.

He said the excellent collaboration between the regulator of the capital market and the judiciary was crucial to ensure that the rights of investors are protected.

According to the statement, the role and responsibility of the commission as provided in Section 13 of the ISA 2007 include the powers to register, inspect, investigate, discipline and suspend any market operator.

The Act also gives SEC substantial powers to make rules and regulations and also to impose sanctions on and enforce decisions against erring capital market operators, or their sponsored individuals.

Gwarzo said, “In pursuance of the above mandate, we leverage on stakeholder engagements to share knowledge and information on areas of mutual interest and that is why you cannot downplay the essence of the judiciary, especially in terms of investors’ protection.”

He said investors would be very comfortable to invested if when they invest in the market and they were not able to get what they want, they could have recourse to finding a way and means that the issue could be resolved.

“And the only way such issue can be resolved is when both the capital market and the judiciary are on the same page. The judiciary needs to understand the workings of the capital market; the capital market needs to understand the workings of the judiciary. This is the essence of the collaboration; for us to understand each other better.”

According to Gwarzo, the judiciary’s important work impacts market integrity, investors’ confidence, market development and market fairness as it is clear that without fair, prompt and effective dispensation of justice, capital markets can never develop.

“Hence, in the commission’s quest to develop a vibrant capital market in Nigeria, it cannot afford to overlook the central role of the judiciary. “

The DG further disclosed that the commission had so far paid about 530 investors who had invested certain amounts of money ranging from N5,000 to N200,000 and suffered losses.

The commission inaugurated its National Investor Protection Fund last November, to provide a window of relief for investors that suffer losses due to defalcations by insolvent or bankrupt capital market operators, which are not dealing members of Securities Exchange or Capital Trade Points.
[Punch]