Ahead of next week’s take-off in trading on the platform of the NASD OTC market, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said this new alternative market for unlisted securities will bring transparency to the Nigerian capital market.
Arunma Oteh, director-general, SEC, noted this on Thursday in Lagos during the post-second-quarter Capital Market Committee (CMC) media briefing.
The NASD OTC market would officially be launched on Monday, thereafter, trading begins next day on its platform.
The Capital Market Committee meets quarterly to review the market and outline possible regulatory and operational steps to be taken in future for the development of the market.
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Renewed interest in Nigeria’s equities market has continued to play up considering the level of participation of both foreign and domestic investors who have realised that most equities in the Nigerian market today trade below their real value.
Speaking on regulatory efforts around the issue of raising minimum capital requirements for market operators, Oteh also noted, “What we are doing is a fit and proper assessment of the situation looking at what is obtainable in other markets across the globe”.
She added, “What we are doing is a fit and proper assessment. We hope that before the end of this year, the SEC board will receive it for approval.”
The SEC and the capital market committee are at the verge of working out a 10-year master plan for Nigeria’s capital market.
The SEC director general noted that currently they have intensified efforts around assessing the level of implementation of Dotun Suleyman’s report on capital market, after which the 10-year master plan takes off.
“One of the major concerns of the CMC is how to make Nigeria leverage its capital market potentials to finance infrastructure projects.
“We are glad to say that Osun State is coming to the market for N10 billion Sukuk bond”, Oteh revealed, while also noting that SEC is partnering the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to organise corporate bond seminar later in the year.