SEC, Judiciary pledge collaboration to protect investors

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Nigerian judiciary have pledged a collaboration the two institutions hope would protect investors and boost needed confidence in the dispute resolution mechanisms in the Nigerian capital market.

Mounir Gwarzo, director-general, SEC, said in Abuja Wednesday, that excellent collaboration between the apex regulator of the capital market and the judiciary was critical to ensure that the rights of investors were protected.

Speaking at the 2016 Judges Workshop organised in collaboration with the National Judicial Institute (NJI), Gwarzo said: “The Judiciary’s important work impacts market integrity, investor 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.”

According to Gwarzo, the Commission has so far paid about 530 investors that invested certain amounts of money ranging from N5,000 to N200,000 that suffered losses.

The SEC set up a National Investor Protection Fund (NIPF) 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.

Section 13 of the Investments Securities Act ISA 2007empowers SEC 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.

“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 investor’s protection,” Gwarzo told the judges.

“Investors will be very comfortable to invest if when they invest in the market and they are not able to get what they want they can have recourse to finding a way and means that the issue can be resolved,” he said.

In his keynote address, Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mahmud Mohammed said the workshop was timely, especially in view of ongoing SEC-led capital market reforms aimed at building a world-class capital market, coupled with the underlying need to boost investor confidence in the dispute resolution mechanisms available in the Nigerian capital market.

Represented by Justice Ibrahim Tanko Mohammed, the CJN said a resilient and efficient dispute resolution mechanism was imperative for a strong and reliable capital market, adding that the entrenchment of sound adjudicatory processes must be seen as a precursor to a world-class capital market and so, must be accorded priority.