The Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) is set to implement a Fintech roadmap to blend into the Nigeria capital market. Ms Mary Uduk, the acting Director General of the Commission has disclosed these plans at the 2019 Capital Market Committee briefing in Lagos. In her statement, she reiterated that the support of SEC Nigeria to the development of a robust Fintech industry will be beneficial to the finance ecosystem. She however emphasized the need to embracing Fintech as an enabler and not a competitor in the business of finance.
According to her SEC will continue to engage the Fintech Association of Nigeria and all the key stakeholders to get inputs as the roadmap implementation phase takes effect. On highlighting on the activities of the Capital Market master plan Implementation committee, Ms Mary Uduk said that there was a considerable progress in the area of driving a 10 year plan designed to reposition the Nigerian capital market.
She further noted that SEC Nigeria and CAMIC has been engaged, and the prospects of exempting equities transactions from VAT payments. While Under the Non-interest Finance space, the SEC hinted that the African Development Bank, AFDB, is planning an issuance under the existing SuKuku Bond Programme.
To strengthen the regulatory process in the capital market, Mary Uduk also informed the market correspondents that SEC Nigeria recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding, MOU with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit , NFIU.
The MOU will help to curb and combat terrorist financing, money laundering and fraud in the capital market.
She listed the following as some of the key resolutions at the end of the Q2, 2019 CMC meeting;
- CMC to invite the Nigerian Information Technology Development Agency to make presentation on the impact of the Nigerian Data Protection Regulation on the Nigerian Capital Market.
- SEC Nigeria to engage the Central Bank of Nigeria on including the E-Dividend Mandate Management System in the guidelines on bank charges.
- Trade Groups to report to the CMC on the compliance of their members to the directive that all their members should be duly registered.
- Brokers and Registrars are to make available to CMC the number of regularized accounts, just as modalities should be developed for validating shareholders registers, such that registrars are furnished with incomplete information such as missing account numbers.
- SEC to ensure that Complete Investor Data are transferred amongst stakeholders like brokers, registrars and the Central Securities Clearing System develop modalities where registrars have missing account numbers.
- SEC to discouraging unclaimed dividends from building up from the securities of newly listed companies.
In conclusion, the road map will enable the capital market to be effective and have a robust market-wider regulation that will have a positive effect on the economy.
