SEC Dismisses 24 Firms From Capital Market, Revalidates 429

The Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, on Tuesday, January 5,  disqualified 24 Capital Market Operators, CMOs, for noncompliance and/or the inability of the audit firms to substantiate their claims of compliance.

A list uploaded to the SEC website after capital verification has been conducted showed that 429 CMOs adhered to the minimum requirements while 24 others were disqualified.

A source at SEC, who pleaded anonymity, said that the regulator will not be able to release the list due to the present sensitive nature of the market, as such might further erode investors’ confidence and trigger more sell-off of shares.

“In exercise of the powers conferred on it by the Investment and Securities Act (ISA) 2007, the Securities and Exchange Commission hereby releases the list of Capital Market Operators that complied with new minimum capital requirement after capital verification exercise,” the apex regulator said in the circular.

This list, it further said, “was based on the consideration of the reports on capital verification and the responses received from the affected Capital Market Operators (CMOs).

“In all, 24 CMOs were disqualified for non-compliance and/or inability to substantiate claim of compliance based on queries raised by the audit firms. In addition, 16 new CMOs were added on the list, 10 of which were newly registered companies and six filed evidence of compliance after the release of provisional list which were verified and accepted.”

To facilitate the smooth implementation of the new minimum capital requirements for CMOs, the Capital Market Committee (CMC) set up a market- wide Implementation Committee on New Minimum Capital Requirement for CMOs comprising SEC, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS), the Association of Stockbroking Houses of Nigeria (ASHON) and all other capital market trade groups.