The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has stated that Issuers would henceforth be required to obtain the reference letter of “No-Objection” from their respective primary regulators and file same along with other application documents presented to the Commission.

This was contained in a Circular issued by the Commission, Thursday.

The SEC states that this has become necessary in a bid to further improve the Commission’s transaction turn-around period and enhance the integrity of capital market instruments.

According to the Circular, “the Commission hereby draws the attention of Issuing Houses to the due diligence requirement for a “No-Objection” letter from “primary regulators” of Issuers, especially those in the Banking and Insurance sectors, as a prerequisite for the Commission’s approval of proposed transactions”.

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The SEC further stated that the letter of No-Objection should cover Confirmation that there has not been any material change(s) in the financial statements of the Issuer/Sponsor from the last accounting year end to date; Names of current members of the Board of Directors; and No objection to the proposed issuance.

“Please be informed that wherein relevant instances, an application is not accompanied by a letter of “No-Objection”, such submission will be considered to be incomplete and would not be processed,” the Commission added.

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By Iheanyi Nwachukwu • March 4, 2022

Iheanyi Nwachukwu, is a creative content writer with almost two decades journalism experience writing on banking, finance, capital markets, and tax. The multiple awards winning journalist is Assistant Editor, BusinessDay. Iheanyi holds BSc Degree in Economics from Imo State University; Master of Science (MSc) Degree in Management from University of Lagos. Iheanyi has attended several work-related trainings including (i) Advanced Writing and Reporting Skills (Pan African University, Lagos); (ii) News Agency Journalism (Indian Institute of Mass Communication {IIMC}, New Delhi, India); and (iii) Capital Markets Development and Regulations (International Law Institute {ILI} of Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA). Other trainings Iheanyi attended include: Economic/Political Risk Analysis (By Thomson Reuters Foundation); International Financial Journalism (IFJ) (By PMA Media Training, UK); Effective Business Writing Skills (By Phillips Consulting); Reporting on Corporate Governance (By International Finance Corporation (IFC) & Thomson Reuters Foundation UK); etc. In addition, he has participated in high-level economy & markets events in Dubai, South Africa, Morocco, and other African countries like Zambia, Ghana and Gambia.

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