The Securities and Exchange Commission has said the fate of the country’s capital market lies with the participation of retail investors, hence its determination to raise their involvement.
It said raising retail investors’ participation was one of the critical ways of deepening the market.
The Director-General, SEC, MounirGwarzo, said this when the management of the commission visited the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria on an advocacy visit in respect of the 10-year Capital Market Master Plan.
Gwarzo stressed that the dominance of the market by foreign investors was one of the reasons that it was not as deep as it should be.
He said, “Our intention is to ensure that we raise the level of participation of retail investors in the market; that is the only way we can maintain the strength of the market. Dominance of the market by foreign investors is one of the reasons why our market is the way it is.
“Although it is the pattern of the market, foreign dominance is a major factor because the foreigners are the ones that come in and come out. We need to upscale the participation of the retail investors in the market and that is why we are addressing some of their concerns. Any retail investors you ask to come back will always raise the issue of unclaimed dividends and so on.”
In this light, the DG disclosed that the commission had embarked on various initiatives like recapitalisation, e-dividend registration and direct cash settlement as a direct benefit to investors from the e-dividend registration.
Gwarzo added, “We are urging Nigerians to go and register to get their dividends electronically. Once we get through with the e-dividend thing, we will be able to deal with other issues in the market. The entire market has commenced direct cash settlement.
“The era when shares will be sold and the proceeds given to the broker who will then pay the client is over. What is obtainable now is that once the shares of an individual are sold, the proceeds are paid directly into the client’s bank account. With this, once the client has authorised the broker and provided all his details, the proceeds will be paid into his account.”
Gwarzo said that every year the commission was coming up with various initiatives from the master plan and had been implementing them, adding, “We have implemented all the initiatives we came up with last year.”
