The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has stated that the passage of the Investments and Securities Bill (ISB) 2022 would enhance the performance of the capital market as well as facilitate economic diversification.

Director General of the SEC, Lamido Yuguda, said this at the Public Hearing on the ISB 2022 and the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers Bill in Abuja last week.

Yuguda emphasised that the passage and enactment of the bill is a crucial step in revamping the economy. Hence, he enjoined key stakeholders to make the aspiration a reality.

Speaking on some innovations and changes in the bill, Yuguda explained that it expands the categories of issuers, as a key step towards the introduction of innovative offerings such as crowd-funding as well as facilitating commercial and investment business activities.

“The Bill expands the definition of a Collective Investment Scheme (CIS) to include schemes offered privately to qualified investors. Minor reviews on various Sections of the extant law have been carried out to provide greater clarity.

Importantly, the Bill introduces an express prohibition of Ponzi/Pyramid Schemes as well as other illegal investment schemes. The Bill also prescribes a jail term of not less than 10 years for promoters of such schemes.

“This Bill contains an entirely new part, which provides for the regulation of Commodity Exchanges and Warehouse Receipts. These provisions are essential to allow for the development of the entire gamut of the commodities ecosystem,” he stated.

Yuguda added that a recommendation is made in the Bill for the inclusion of the National Pension Commission (PenCom) on the SEC board for increased collaboration between the two agencies to encourage more investment of pension funds in capital market products and instruments.

According to the SEC boss, new approaches to managing systemic risk have been introduced.

These include monitoring, management and mitigation of systemic risk in the Nigerian capital market and arrangements with other regulators relating to information required from entities that are regulated by other regulators. Others are sharing of information between financial sector regulatory authorities or government agencies and the use of a legal entity identifier for proper monitoring of systemic risks.

The Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS) and Association of Securities Dealing Houses of Nigeria (ASHON), at the weekend, also presented to the National Assembly the rationale and benefits of passing the Bill. It argued that it will transform CIS into the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (CISI) to enable it to drive the registration of all professionals in the securities business.

Similarly, ASHON has proposed the inclusion of stockbrokers on the board of SEC as core operators in the Nigerian capital market.

A statement from the CIS said there was a need to properly define the scope of functions of the institute and the securities that a stockbroker can deal in.