By Goddy Egene, 09.21.2010

The Interim Administrator (IA) of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Emmanuel Ikazoboh, will tomorrow present a progress report on the activities of the Exchange to the Board of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).THISDAY gathered that  the  Board of SEC will meet in Abuja tomorrow and Ikazoboh has been invited to present his report on the activities of the NSE since he took over on August 5, 2010.

Ikazoboh was appointed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as the IA following the removal of the former Director-General,  Prof. Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke. Ikazoboh was mandated by the apex regulatory body for the capital market  to oversee the affairs of the NSE until a substantive DG is appointed. Besides, the Commission appointed jointly  the law firm Aluko & Oyebode and  accounting firm KPMG to investigate the allegations of financial mismanagement at the NSE. Apart from investigations,  which have been going on since last month, the AI has taken some decisions  including the reduction in the  staff strength of the NSE  and internal  restructuring of the management.

Market sources said that  Ikazoboh is expected to brief the Board of SEC on the goings on at Exchange   with particular  emphasis on the progress made so far  with the investigations and the executive recruitment exercise. “Since intervening at NSE over a month ago, a lot has been happening. The investigations into the financials of the Exchange, the audited accounts  for 2009, the moves to acquire a new trading platform, screening process for new DG among  others. There are indications that findings of the investigators so far are very revealing. Although the management of the SEC may have got access to some of the information, Ikazoboh  will probably  brief the larger house and tell them the latest development in  each of these areas,” a source said.

It is hoped that strengthening the corporate governance at the NSE would go a long in restoring investors’ confidence in the market. While appointing the investigators last month, SEC said that given the broad allegations, the  investigators have gathered a multi-disciplinary team of lawyers, accountants, auditors and  stockbrokers.

“They will be documenting the allegations with respect to three broad areas that relate to governance, management, and malfeasance. On the governance allegations, the independent investigation will examine the oversight provided by the Council of the Exchange. In respect of the Management allegations, the independent investigation will examine the allegations of financial mismanagement levelled against the Exchange. On the malfeasance track, the independent investigation will examine the allegations related to mismanagement and maladministration by staff and beneficiaries of the NSE,” SEC said.

Source:ThisDay