The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Nigeria has said that efficient dispute resolution mechanism adopted by well-informed adjudicators holds great potential for sustainable growth of the nation’s capital market and engender investor confidence in the bourse.
The commission’s Director-General, Mr. Lamido Yuguda, made this remark at a one-day workshop organised by the Investment and Securities Tribunal (IST) in collaboration with the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) with the theme ‘Law, Practice and Procedure of the IST’ held on Wednesday at the SEC’s head office in Abuja.
Yuguda, who was represented at the forum by the SEC’s Executive Commissioner, Legal and Enforcement, Mr. Reginald Karawusa, said the workshop was important for legal practitioners who bring investment matters before the IST on behalf of their clients and other legal practitioners in the capital market.
According to the capital market regulator, lawyers play very prominent roles in the Capital Market and as such should not only how to structure transactions but also have clear knowledge of the procedure and the practices of appearing before the IST.
He described the workshop as desirable for the investment space, especially holding at a period when the new IST procedure had been published, and advised the organizers to make it a yearly programme which the SEC will support in view of its immeasurable benefits to the nation’s investment market.
The Chairman of IST, Mr. Amos Azi, in his opening remarks noted that based on the provisions of the SEC Act of 1988, the Federal High Court was vested with jurisdiction over violations arising from capital market transactions.
Azi pointed out that pursuant to the said Act, the commission established the Administrative Hearing Proceedings Committee to resolve capital market disputes, and appeals lay therefrom to the Federal High Court.
The investment expert, however, lamented that the Federal High Courts were largely unable to appreciate the sensitivity of the capital market, adding that due to this investors’ confidence has not been bolstered, especially due to delays they encounter in the resolution of their disputes in the conventional courts, and as transactions in the market continue to increase.
