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Uche Usim, Abuja
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) at the weekend advised dissatisfied investors to use the Commission’s Complaints Management Framework (CMF) in lodging their complaints on happenings in the capital market.
SEC Acting Director-General Mary Uduk, who stated this in an interview in Abuja, said that the principal mission of the CMF was to address the complaints of capital market investors.
According to her, the initiative was not only to help investors lay their complaints through the right channels, but also to assist the regulator in addressing the issues in the shortest possible time.
“Before this framework, people complained to many offices, some go to EFCC, some go to the police, some go to any person that they can think of, even thugs, to vent their frustrations,” Uduk said.
“But then, it was not yielding fruit and it was dragging the regulator on many fronts. We, therefore, saw the need to change our strategy and come up with a more robust framework.
“Our current Complaints Management Framework will guide investors and ultimately protect their investments in the market. If you have any question about the capital market, you know where to go to,” she said.
Uduk noted that the SEC now closely monitors and supervises capital market operators so that investors’ investments are not violated, misused or mismanaged in any way.
“We have now set up a framework where we now monitor them more regularly. We also have other initiatives arising from our 10-year master plan, which is to protect investors and bring confidence in the market, such as the e-dividend mandate. When people invest in the capital market, they expect returns, they expect to make money. So, one of it is to be able to protect your dividend and get your dividend as at when due.”
Other problem areas, the SEC boss said, include the issue of multiple subscriptions, with the National Investors Protection Fund set up to protect investors from problems arising from capital market operations, other than brokerage, as brokers are covered by the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE).
“In the past, people subscribe for shares and bond in many different names. Some as many as 5, 6 different names, and because of that they are not able to get the benefit of investing in the capital market. For instance, if you have a bank account, a bank account recognizes only one name, with only one BVN; and, therefore, if you have different names that are not your real names and your share certificate does not carry those names and the banks do not recognize those names, you are not able to get the dividend of investing in the market.
“Therefore, we have given the stakeholders, the market, a window of opportunity for people that engage in multiple subscriptions to come and regularise those holdings that they have and consolidate them to be able to get the benefit of investing in the capital market,” the SEC Ag. DG said.
Uduk disclosed that many investors have taken advantage of the opportunity, leading to the regularisation of about N3.4 billion so far, as she further urged investors to take steps to regularise their multiple accounts.
The Commission had earlier required CMOs to register with their relevant trade groups to ensure compliance with this directives. The SEC also requires proof of registration with these trade groups as a perquisite for operators to carry out transactions or make any submission at the Commission.
