The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), on Wednesday, announced that the processes associated with dematerialisation of the nation’s capital market would be concluded in December, 2015.
SEC Director-General, Mr Mounir Gwarzo, made the announcement at the Second quarter Capital Market Committee (CMC) media briefing in Lagos.
Gwarzo also said that the commission closed SEC’s three zonal offices located at Onitsha, Ibadan and Kaduna in order to strengthen and fortify other offices.
He said that 17 registrars out of the 22 registrars operating in the capital market complied with full dematerialisation of share certificates.
Dematerialisation is the process of replacing paper certificates with electronic records at the Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS).
Gwarzo said that the commission was currently working with all stakeholders in the market to conclude the process this year.
He added that the commission had commenced public enlightenment programme to reach out to all states in Nigeria to enable investors to comply with the process.
“The process is ongoing, we are doing a lot of public enlightenment to facilitate easy take off, we advice investors to key into the process,” Gwarzo said.
He said that SEC had already instructed registrars to notify shareholders to elect stockbroking firms of their choice in readiness with full dematerialisation.
Gwarzo also said that with the process, shareholders forms already with the CSCS would be passed to the registrars, after which the registrars will notify the CSCS the broker’s choice of the investor.
On the 10-year capital market master plan, Gwarzo said that the commission had already set up an advisory council that would review the report and make amendments where necessary.
“We have the list of advisory council and the CMC has given us the mandate to select 10 to 12 people and very soon, we will come out with the list,” Gwarzo said.
He said that the committee’s work was purely advisory to interface with the judiciary and the parliament.
“The council will interface with the people working out the initiative and the master plan will be concluded this year,” the director-general said.
On the recapitalisation of stockbroking firms, he said, the Commission would not shift the September deadline.
He said, “a committee from the NSE and CSCS is already working toward that deadline and in the next two to three weeks, we will know those that will meet the target.
“The committee is up and doing, having only two weeks to conclude the process,” Gwarzo said.
