SEC pledges to protect minority interests in Capital Market

By Philemon Adedeji

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has assured investors that the interest of minority shareholders would be protected during all transactions in the capital market.

The Director General, SEC, Mr. Lamido Yuguda  gave the assurance in Abuja yesterday while briefing journalists on the outcome of the first quarter Capital Market Committee meeting, CMC.

This follows the decision of Oando Plc to delist from the Nigerian Exchange Limited, NGX.

He noted that protecting the interests of both majority and minority shareholders was the primary responsibility of the Commission.

“Protection of investors is the central mandate of the Commission and when the Commission protects investors, we do not discriminate between minority and majority shareholders.

“When there is a case of delisting, the application for the delisting cones to the Commission and we go through it very carefully to ensure that the shares of the company being delisted are fairly valued because fair valuation is what protects all the shareholders,”he explained.

Mr. Yuguda also noted that the Commission was working at ensuring that foreign and retail investors were retained and more attracted to the capital market, observing that relative to other markets on the continent,  the NGX has performed very well.

He expressed optimism that President Muhammadu Buhari will sign the Investors and Securities Bill, (ISB), into law before leaving office in May, noting that the new law was long overdue.

“The meeting was officially informed about the passage of the Investments and Securities Bill (ISB) 2023 by the Senate. Some of the provisions in the ISB include stiffer punishment for operators of Ponzi schemes, expansion of the categories of issuers of securities, and better coverage of some new products among others.

“The ISB also has provisions for regulation of commodities exchanges and other operators in the commodities trading ecosystem,”he added.