Investor education key to development – SEC
Omeiza Bilal
Continuous Investor education has been described as an important component of financial literacy in a bid to further develop the capital market.
Director General of the SEC, Dr. Emomotimi Agama stated this during a meeting with the management of the Investments and Securities Tribunal in Abuja, Thursday.
According to Dr. Agama, “We need to continue constant education in the capital market. The market is knowledge based and we are committed to ensuring that information is made available to the investing public.
“The Commission will continue to partner with relevant stakeholders to create more opportunities for learning. We will do more training and sensitisation because it is important we continue to learn”.
The SEC DG stated that the IST is an important organ in the discharge of capital market disputes adding that as more cases are being resolved, the investing public will begin to appreciate the role of the IST in the capital market.
Agama disclosed that decisions on cases brings about confidence which is needed for the nation to have a fledgling capital market
He assured that the SEC is committed to partnering with the IST on the dispensation of justice and growth of the capital market.
In his remarks, Chairman of IST, Mr. Amos Azi said the IST was born out of a need to address two significant pillars of market growth, development and stability which are investor confidence and protection through a specialized dispute resolution system.
He said, “Suffice to say, this one initiative has set the pace for similar regulatory climes all over the world. There is no gain saying, the Tribunal is the bedrock of dispute resolution in the Nigerian Capital market.
“Established pursuant to S.274 of the ISA 2007, the Tribunal has given judgements on over 480 cases with monetary value of over N868 billion.”
Azi stated that in the course of exercising its powers, the Tribunal has not only restored investor confidence in the market but has contributed immensely in the development of capital market jurisprudence by its decisions, and promoted knowledge dissemination and market enlightenment through its law reports.
“It is noteworthy to state here that the creation of the Tribunal gave a boost to the International recognition of the Nigerian capital market. You will recall that the existence of the Tribunal was part of the factors considered by the International Organization of Securities Commission (IOSCO) in admitting Nigeria’s SEC as “Appendix A” signatory to its multilateral memorandum of understanding (MMOU) in 2006,” he added.
