Uche Usim, Abuja
Nigeria’s Acting Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Ms Mary Uduk at the weekend assured that the 10-year developmental master plan of the Commission will be reviewed and tailored to align with the country’s current economic realities.
Uduk, meeting with capital market stakeholders in Abuja, disclosed that the review will capture macroeconomic, political and market development fronts, even as she comitted to a quick completion of the exercise.
On implementation, Uduk said out of over 90 initiatives outlined in the capital market master plan, 66 initiatives have commenced since 2015, of which 13 have been successfully completed.
“Some of the concluded initiatives include dematerialization of shares, recapitalisation of capital market operators, setting up of a National Investment Protection Fund and the establishment of the West African Securities Regulators Association among others. 55 initiatives are at various stages of implementation and it is hoped many of them will be concluded before the end of the year,” Uduk highlighted.
“Other achievements include e-dividend mandate, direct cash settlement, roadmap on commodities ecosystem, new listing, financial literacy, law reviews, non interest capital market products among several of the initiative that you have collectively worked on.”
Uduk, while commending stakeholders in the capital market for their cooperation and support, also disclosed that the Commission has approved the rules on Green Bonds, and would soon introduce the rules on derivatives trading, which she said are necessary to move the market forward.
The Acting DG said the implementation of the 10-year capital market master plan commenced in earnest under the guidance of the Capital Market Master Plan Implementation Council Chaired by Mr Olutola Mobolurin and have made great strides in its implementation efforts.
“SEC and market stakeholders have taken up the initiatives outlined in the Master Plan document in a systematic manner while also painstakingly engaging with the government, its agencies and other critical stakeholders whose support and collaboration is required to achieve the objectives outlined in the master plan.
She added that: “All of these would not have been possible without your support, cooperation and collaboration. We are indeed grateful to the different committees through which a lot of the work on these initiatives have been carried out. It would have been impossible without your commitment of time, energy and resources; your drive and focus.”