By Gbenga Agbana

Tuesday, 30 Nov 2010

The Securities and Exchange Commission, through its subsidiary, the Nigerian Capital Market Institute, is currently training capital market operators on ways to discourage money laundering and market abuse.

Speaking at the workshop with the theme, ”Anti-Money Laundering and Market Abuse,” the Director-General of the SEC, Ms Arunma Oteh, said the commission has adopted several strategies to enhance the depth of the market and reduce the bearish trend. This, she said, would be by enhancing transparency, since the liquidity problem in the market was compounded by various sharp practices by operators.

Oteh, who was represented by the Commissioner in charge of Legal and Enforcement, Mr. Charles Udora, said, “The Nigerian capital market experienced some challenges such as incessant bearishness and credit crunch not too long ago. The Securities and Exchange Commission has introduced different measures and indeed, adopted several strategies to ward off such price fall and broaden the depth and breadth of the Nigerian capital market.”

She added, ”Notably, the recent price turmoil, bearishness and liquidity problem in our capital markets did not result from a singular factor, but a plethora of factors, including market sharp practices. Therefore, the need for good understanding of anti-market abuse practices cannot be over-emphasised. For this reason, it is in order to describe this training as important, relevant and indeed, timely.”

On why the workshop was organised by the NCMI, the Managing Director, Dr. Oluwatobi Oyefeso, told our correspondent that it was important for operators in the capital market to understand the effects of money laundering on the economy and the financial market.

He said, ”The workshop was organised by the institute to enlighten the financial market practitioners about the disastrous effects of money laundering and market abuse on the capital market, money market and the insurance sector of the financial market. Money laundering at the macro economic level increases the quantum of money in the financial market, which has its own associate effect of possible inflation.

”It corrupts the whole financial market, subsequently leading to various forms of infractions and abuses. This scares away investors. So, money laundering and market abuse lead to the loss of investors‘interest. Capital market operators need to understand the nitty-gritty of money laundering, so that they can handle it when it comes their way.”

Source: Punch