The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has urged operators to create innovative financial products that would support businesses, boost market liquidity and enable the market to play its role of capital formation in the economy.
The commission also expressed its resolve to intensify surveillance of the market and vowed to apply stiff sanctions to any operator that engages in unethical conduct.
Speaking at the 25th yearly conference of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers held in Lagos, at the weekend, Director General of SEC, Lamido Yuguda, said there was the need for stockbrokers to identify some specific areas that could be used as a stimulus to improve the current state of the market.
He said to retain investors’ confidence in the market, investors must derive benefits from the market and perceive capital market intermediaries as working for them.
According to him, developing new strategies to strengthen accountability amongst market participants in the market is critical to improving market confidence.
He urged operators to channel assets into productive long-term investments such as critical infrastructure needed to unlock economic improvement and improve the living standards of citizens.
He therefore urged the institute to ensure that its members continue to uphold high ethical standards in the discharge of their fiduciary duties as trusted agents of investors, saying, “We must therefore rise to the challenge to work hard and do all that we must to attract investors to the market and to engage in strategic discourse and advocacy with policymakers at all levels, to channel long-term funds into profitable cost-recovery based infrastructure.”
In addition, he stated that because capital market operators are the face of the market and interact daily with investors, they must prioritise the interest of investors over their own and demonstrate the highest level of integrity and transparency in their operations.
The SEC boss pointed out that poor conduct dissuades investors from the market, thereby negating the collective objective of broadening and deepening the market.
He assured that the commission would continue to adopt measures aimed at empowering trade groups and professional associations to enhance effective market regulation.
He also pledged the commission’s commitment and determination to restoring investor confidence, preserving market integrity and reducing systemic risk.