The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has said the Commission has reduced time to market in its bid to ensure that the capital market is now more efficient and better positioned to aid the development of the Nigerian economy.
The Director-General of the SEC, Dr Emomotimi Agama, who stated this during an interview in Abuja, emphasised that the current management of the SEC has reduced the time it takes companies to obtain approval to two weeks.
According to Agama, “Since we came on board, it is instructive to say that we have helped propel the economy. One of the things that has been a challenge before we came to the saddle was time to market; issuers will come to the market and they will spend time before they get approval to be able to raise capital.
“The capital market is the lifeblood of any economy and of course, this is actually regulated by time. So, one of the first things we have tackled since we came was to reduce the time to market. Therefore, I can proudly say that we have reduced the time to market from over a year to fourteen days.
Agama said with the banking recapitalisation exercise, banks were able to raise over N2.2tn from the Nigerian capital market using the e-offering platform.
He said issuers did not experience delays in their applications because the Commission had various mechanisms in place to ensure that applications were swiftly attended to and approvals received in record time.
“In addition, all of these transactions have been fully subscribed and we have encouraged the use of technology. They used the e-offering platform, meaning you do not have to use paper anymore to apply in this market. We hope to get better by the day.
“Technology is the in-thing; the ISA 2007 has provided for that and we feel that to be able to achieve the milestone we want in the market, we need to do better and we applied that in the bank recapitalisation, and the success is massive and overwhelming. The NGX has an e-IPO system and that has been proven to be very effective.
“All of the offers that came within this period were approved within 14 days as promised. The next level was a subscription that happened through the NGX platform and we approved it. We saw many young people coming into the market because we have seen that technology has attracted more Nigerians to the market. In this year, we will make more use of technology in the work that we do,” he stated.
The SEC DG stated that the Commission realises the strength of the capital market in moving the economy, hence its determination to ensure that the market can provide solutions within the economy.
“What is new for us this year is efficiency, dedication and giving back to society by using the capital market as an engine of growth and propeller of wealth for all Nigerians. We must give back by ensuring that Nigerians are properly served. The SEC is committed to protecting investors and developing the market. We must do everything within our powers and the laws to provide that and ensure Nigerians are happy again in investing in the market and making wealth for Nigerians,” he added.