The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Capital Market and Institutions, Babangida Ibrahim (APC, Katsina) has disclosed that the proposed Bill to make the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) the sole Nigerian Capital Market regulator was to eliminate unethical practices and overlapping responsibilities.
He disclosed this while shedding more light on what the bill seeks to address as regards the operations and regulations of the market.
According to him, the current Act regulating the capital market is the Investments and Securities Act, 2007 which had left some crucial aspects of the regulations especially with developments since its enactment.
“The current enabling law for the Nigerian capital market, the Investments and Securities Act, Act No. 29 of 2007 (“ISA”) was signed into law by late President Umar Musa Yar’adua in June 2007.
“The current realities in the capital market require that those regulations be improved to enable the regulators (SEC) to perform their optimum functions.
“That is why we are repealing the Act because some essential parts of the Act require amendments and also there is a need to introduce some new sections of the Act”.
Ibrahim said the bill seeks to bring in new amendments to enhance provisions for efficient regulation of investment schemes in the sector.
He added: “Recently there are a lot of complaints by Nigerians to the extent that the federal government itself put some embargo on accounts of Ponzi schemes.
The lawmaker informed that the bill when signed into law will also eliminate overlapping responsibilities between SEC and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in regulating the activities of players in the market.
“Sometimes, if you look at the CBN during the operation of Ponzi schemes, you notice an overlap between SEC and CBN; that’s the reason why there is a dispute. It is necessary to streamline the position and enforcement power of each regulator.
He said current trends in capital market regulation have made it imperative to make major improvements to the Act to align Nigeria’s capital market with international standards.
It could be recalled that the House passed the bill through second reading on Thursday, January 20th, 2022.
It was titled: “A Bill for an Act to Repeal the Investments and Securities Act, 2007 and Enact the Investments and Securities Bill to Establish Securities and Exchange Commission as the Apex Regulatory Authority for the Nigerian Capital Market as well as Regulation of the Market to ensure Capital Formation, the Protection of the Market to ensure Capital Formation, the Protection of Investors, Maintain Fair, Efficient and Transparent Market and Reduction of Systematic Risk; and for Related Matters”.
