Before his emergence as the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), there has been a 2-year long controversy surrounding the office he presently occupies. Dr Lamido Yuguda, the Commission’s DG, came on board, with the first task to bring all warring parties together and ensure the smooth operation of the capital market in the country.Yuguda, an economist, banker and investment manager, with over 30 years’ experience in financial services has an unmatched pedigree which has greatly given him an edge in the day-to-day running of the capital market in Nigeria.Together with his team, Yuguda is expected to take the capital market to where it should be, pulling its weight in terms of contributing to the Nigerian economy and assuming its place in the league of top markets of the world.On assuming the mantle of leadership, the team hit the ground running by working with an already made template of the Capital Market Master Plan 2015-2025.
The Master plan has no doubt recorded tremendous progress, since its implementation. The reason is not far-fetched; the market is united, therefore it was easy to tackle challenges. His team is committed to the continued implementation of the initiatives of the Ten-year Capital Market Master Plan, as well as other related initiatives targeted at developing our capital market. In order to increase the visibility and attractiveness of the market, Dr. Yuguda-led team at SEC promised to focus on building and sustaining a robust, transparent and efficient capital market that improves wealth creation, access to finance, business growth and propels socio-economic and infrastructural development, capable of transforming the economy.
Bearing in mind that the average investor in the capital market is relatively old and the number of CIS accounts in the market is less than 400,000. The team he is leading has beckoned on young people to invest in the capital market. He was quoted as, “The Commission recognizes that a fair, transparent and orderly market, with a sound regulatory framework can promote trust and restore this confidence. In turn, this improves the credibility of the capital market necessary to attract retail, institutional and foreign participants. In order to protect investors therefore, we will ensure strict enforcement of the Rules and Regulations of the Commission, including ensuring that erring market operators are duly penalized. We would further strengthen our enforcement regime and clamp down on illegal operators luring unsuspecting investors in our market”.By the way, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is the main regulatory institution of the Nigerian capital market, supervised by the Federal Ministry of Finance.
There are confusions and misconceptions about Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), which is privately owned and self-regulating, and SEC, a federal agency which maintains surveillance over NSE with the mandate of ensuring orderly and equitable dealings in securities and protecting the market against insider trading abuses.The Securities and Exchange Commission assists investors in deciding whether to invest or not to invest in any security. Securities are intangible goods which are capable of physical evaluation. For any investor to put down capital in Nigeria, the SEC has access to very important information concerning the issuer and the securities must be provided to the investing public. According to a journal by Okubor Cecil Nwachukwu, “this requirement is important because investors need to be protected against issuers who may easily take advantage of investors, where correct and timely information is not disclosed. The function of the Securities and Exchange Commission is to regulate investment and securities business in Nigeria. Investment and securities business in Nigeria is carried out in the capital market”. “The capital market plays a very important role in the development of any economy. As a place where the wealth of a nation can be bought and sold, its role in accelerating the socio-economic well-being of citizens of any country and also the economic growth of a nation leaves no doubt as to its importance in nation building.
To appreciate this, it will be appropriate to understand the role of Securities and Exchange Commission (S.E.C.) in public issues of securities and the structure of the Nigerian capital market”.For the Director General, SEC is a familiar terrain, having worked with the Central Bank of Nigeria back in 1984, just shortly after he graduated from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He was also a Senior Supervisor of the Foreign operations department, which manages Nigeria’s external debt records at the Apex bank.After 32 years at the apex bank, he voluntarily retired in 2016. He has been a member of the Board of the Securities and Exchange Commission, before his appointment as DG.Yuguda has a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, having graduated in 1983. He later obtained a Master’s degree in Money, Banking, and Finance from the University of Birmingham, UK, in 1991.A Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), a CFA charter holder, and Certified Financial Asset Manager from the Swiss Finance Institute, Geneva, Switzerland, Yuguda joined the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington DC, the USA in 1997, as an economist in the Africa Department. In this position, Yuguda assessed the economic policies and management of balance of payment support programmes in IMF member countries.Knowing the importance of its major stakeholders, the July 2020 inaugurated Management of the Commission, led by Yuguda Lamido has convened a series of meetings with the capital market community and stakeholders. This, the management believes will chat a new course for the two parties and in turn yield interesting and fruitful interactions and successes for both.Since its birth, the new management under Yuguda, has been collectively committed to uphold the good initiatives they have seen in the market and continuously seek ways of improving them to the benefit of all stakeholders.Operating an open-door policy, Dr. Lamido Yuguda has made itself open to engagements with stakeholders which will foster new partnerships or strengthen the development and transformation of the capital market.
The Commission has improved its efficiency, maintained best practice standards and made better use of technology. SEC has kept its eyes on time-to-market and always bears in mind that the capital market competes with the banking market as a source of funding, and makes its market become more competitive. His team has restored investors’ confidence and attracted the retail investor back to the market. Market operators however, must equally improve the quality of their documentation and ensure that their submissions are fully compliant with the Rules and Regulations of the Commission. They must also ensure that identified deficiencies are promptly addressed.
