Festus Akanbi
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged credit rating agencies (CRAs) operating in Nigeria to focus on investors’ protection in all their dealings, services, and activities within the capital market.
This was contained in a goodwill message delivered on behalf of the Director-general of the commission, Mallam Lamido Yuguda at the inaugural edition of DataPro’s annual webinar on Credit Rating Imperatives for Issues and Investors.
Yuguda, who was represented by the Head of Monitoring Department of SEC, Mr. Adamu Sambo, emphasised the need to protect investors by the credit rating agencies.
During the webinar jointly organised by DataPro and the Association of Issuing Houses of Nigeria (AIHN), the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, DataPro, Mr. Abimbola Adeseyoju called for greater socialisation of the crucial role played by credit rating agencies in the efficient allocation of capital and resources with the economy.
According to him, DataPro will henceforth be charting a new course in the credit rating industry in Nigeria and focusing on the way forward as well as on how investors and issuers alike can adapt to the new normal and drive economic growth and development through the various securities, products, and services available in the Nigerian debt market.
In the keynote address delivered on behalf of the Chief Executive Officer of FMDQ, Mr. Bola Koko, Managing Director FMDQ Securities Exchange Limited, Mr. Tumi Sekoni noted that the Covid-19 pandemic negatively affected the new wave of globalisation with the massive decline in world trade, foreign direct investment (FDI) and travel leading to a three per cent traction on global GDP in 2020.
In his address titled “Galvanising the Capacity of the Nigerian Debt Capital Market,” Sekoni noted that it has been established that the FMDQ Exchange is committed to galvanising the capacity of the Nigerian debt market, beyond being an organiser for the debt capital market by ensuring transparency, liquidity, and diversity.
In his contribution during a panel of discussion, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director, BUA Cement, who represented the Executive Director of the company, Alhaji Kabir Rabiu, disclosed that the BUA bond, the largest ever issued within the market and oversubscribed to the tune of 300 per cent which was rated by DataPro, got the group into the debt market.
He also stated that the outcome was an eye-opener about the potentials and possibilities within the market as well as a pointer to other areas of improvements within the group.
