SEC Assures Stakeholders of Tech-Driven Market, Investors’ Protection
Acting Director General of SEC, Ms. Mary Uduk d
Goddy Egene
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has said that it will soon come out with regulations that will guide technology-driven products in the capital market. The Acting Director General of SEC, Ms. Mary Uduk during a presentation by Vice President, FinTech Association of Nigeria, Mr. Ade Bajomo, titled: “Market Impact of the FinTech Revolution” in Abuja wednesday.
Uduk, who also announced Bajomo as Chair of the Capital Market Committee on Fintech Roadmap for Capital Markets in Nigeria, said the SEC as the apex regulator of the Nigerian capital market is interested in investments that Nigerians are making especially with the advent of digitalisation.
“If we will regulate this market and understand what is happening, we need our staff to understand the rudiments of FinTech. Very soon the whole world will move to technology for regulation. Other jurisdictions have already gone far into it with some of them already amending their rules in that direction. The International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) is on it and there is a lot on it already all over the world and we can’t be left behind. We are very much interested in some of the most active areas of Fintech innovation like block chain technology, crypto currencies and how they affect investors,” Uduk said.
According her, as regulators of the capital market, it is the responsibility of the SEC to find out how such investments are going on and if they meet set standards because when investors lose money they will come back to the SEC.
“That is why we are seeking to understand what FinTech is all about to enable us regulate the market properly,” she stated.
The DG noted that during the last Capital Market Committee meeting in Lagos, the Committee agreed to set up a Committee to draw a Fintech Adoption roadmap for the Capital Market.
Uduk alluded to the growing influence of Fintechs, saying that there is the need for the capital market to take advantage of the Fintech offerings in moving the capital market forward.
She equally emphasised the focus of the commission on capacity building, knowledge sharing, advocacy and collaboration with relevant entities.
“The capital market needs to create an enabling environment that is attractive enough for FinTechs to innovate as the Market should engage actively with the new trend in technology and provide the adequate regulatory framework for proper adoption of suitable technology and that is one of the reasons why we have invited FinTech here today for this presentation,” she said.
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