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SEC DG Vows Tough Sanctions for Capital Market Violations

SEC DG Agama has warned that capital market violations would face tough sanctions to ensure transparency and investor confidence.

Director-General, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Dr. Emomotimi Agama, yesterday, warned that anyone who violated the capital market regulations will be brought to justice. 

Speaking to journalists at the official launch of the Norrenberger Asset Management Limited and 2025 Capital Market Outlook, in Abuja, Agama stated that there would be sanctions, “no matter whose ox is gored”, as the commission strives to “create an investment climate that will encourage everyone to be part of it”.

He said the Investments and Securities Bill (ISB) 2024, which had been passed by the National Assembly and currently awaiting the president’s assent, was everything needed to restore sanity and ensure that operators played by the rules in the capital market.

He said SEC was committed to building an investment climate that will encourage trust, confidence, and transparency, stressing that this does not come in a day but through dint of hard work and commitment.

Agama said, “As much as we educate people to know, we also will not tolerate any form of infraction or violation of the rules and regulations that govern those markets. 

“We believe strongly that the market has so much to give. It is the salt of the Nigerian economy. And so it is very important to know that for us to achieve the $1 trillion economy, as promised by President Bola Tinubu, we must do our work at the SEC and with every other agency.”

He said there will no longer be issues of arbitrage, adding that SEC will prioritiserisk-based supervision in 2025.

Agama said, “We’re going to get to every capital market operator, watching them like an eagle, making sure that they’re doing just the right thing. 

“We want to be sure that Nigerians that are here and abroad, and even foreigners, believe in our market, trust in our market, trust in our system, without necessarily going to ask for anybody. They will see it.

“The taste of the pudding is in its eating. And so for us, we are ever ready, just and tough, to do what is right, to follow what is right, and to act rightly.

“And when we do that, we expect the market also to do so. So, 2025 is going to be one year in history that people will never forget. We want Nigerians to believe in us, as we’ll do our best to make them believe in us.”

Group Managing Director (GMD)/Chief Executive, Norrenberger, Mr. Tony Edeh, said the company will introduce innovation and excitement, which were lacking in the asset management space.

Edeh said the company will also revolutionise the market.

He told THISDAY, “We have watched the asset management space over time and we’ve noticed that year in, year out, the products are the same. It’s usually mutual funds or fixed income instruments.

“So, we felt that the space needs to be excited. The space needs to be optimised. The space needs to be scintillated.

“And that was the reason we came into this space with a clear-cut strategy of innovation. A clear-cut strategy of rethinking the business model. And that was what we did. And that was what we implemented. And that is what we are getting the benefits today.”

Managing Director/Chief Executive, Norrenberger Asset Management, Mr. PabinaYinkere, said, “If you look at Nigeria’s markets today, it is focused largely on the south when it comes to investment management and financial inter-mediation. 

“So, we being headquartered in Abuja gives us an advantage to be able to provide services to the northern region. And if you look at this northern region, it is predominantly a Muslim population. 

“One of the things we have at Norrenberger is a very strong and sound Islamic finance department. We call it Noren Hala. So, that business is supposed to bring financial services, financial inter-mediation to the people who want to invest in line with their faith.”

Yinkere said the company’s efforts were also aimed at supporting the financial inclusion narrative of the federal government.

He said, “We are going to do that using innovative products. We are going to do that by democratising investment management services to different people.

“Today, some people think that investment management is only for the wealthy. We have come to say, no; investment management is for everybody.”

 James Emejo

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