Peter OBIORA InvestAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Embattled Arunma Oteh, Director General (DG) of Nigeria’s Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) is seeking re-election as Chairperson of the Africa/Middle East Regional Committee (AMERC) at the ongoing 37th Annual Conference and meeting of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) in Beijing China.
This is contained in a Statement on Sunday by Yakubu Olaleye, Head, Media of Nigeria’s SEC and obtained by www.investadvocateng.com.
According to the Statement, Oteh’s quest for re-election is underscored by the focused and all-inclusive leadership she has provided the regional committee as well as her impressive achievements since assuming the position in 2010 upon her appointment as the DG of the Commission in Nigeria.
“Under her leadership, the AMERC has refocused on key result areas and strategic issues that have enhanced the delivery of her vision for the region. This has within the short period boosted the profile of the regional committee and improved the visibility of the region within the IOSCO community†the Statement said.
The Statement affirmed that to enhance the integrity of the Capital Markets in the region, she was credited for relentlessly supporting members in their quest to qualify as Signatories to the IOSCO MMOU, which deadline is December 2012.
“For instance, her efforts have resulted in the increase of Appendix ‘A’ Signatories from the region to thirteen. In addition, two other AMERC jurisdictions have been successfully assessed and are expected to be presented for approval as Appendix “A†Signatories during the conference. AMERC members currently in Appendix “A†include Bahrain, Dubai, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Tunisia, West African Monetary Union, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Tanzania†the Statement said.
Nigeria’s SEC further affirmed that Oteh was also credited to have promoted improved regional communication and cooperation, and had consistently ensured a more effective representation of the region at the various levels of the Organisation’s policy making activities such as the Executive Committee (EC) and the Emerging Market Committee Advisory Board (EMCAB) among others.
“In the area of capacity building, the AMERC Chairperson had focused on the improvement of regulatory and operational capacity in the region by leveraging IOSCO, IMF and other partner jurisdictions and organisations. She has enhanced the use of annual meetings of the regional committee for capacity building. Also, a Risk Based Supervision workshop was held in Uganda in 2011 while a regional training workshop was organized jointly with the US SEC on Market Oversight, Enforcement and Development in Nigeria†the Statement affirmed.
The AMERC was established by the IOSCO President’s Committee at the 1992 Annual Conference in London. Before 1992, Africa and the Middle East were the only regions within the Organisation without a common forum. The Committee was formed with Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Oman, Nigeria and South Africa as pioneer members with SEC Nigeria as Chairperson. Other member countries that have led the regional committee include Kenya, Egypt and Uganda.
The IOSCO 37th annual conference and meeting commenced in Beijing, China on Sunday; with an impressive attendance by member jurisdictions around the world including 92 ordinary members, 8 Associate members, 33 Affiliate members and 49 Observers.
Nigeria’s SEC said this year’s edition of the conference is unique to the Organisation in a variety of respects. Among others, the year 2012 is a transition year as well as an election year for the Organisation.
A highlight of the conference is the merger of the Executive, Technical and Emerging Markets Committee Advisory Board to form the new transitional Board of IOSCO, in order to boost its effectiveness.
Other issues to be addressed at this year’s conference include the strategic direction of the Organisation, its new structure as well as the future role of the Emerging Markets Committee.
This is coming on the heels of an ongoing public hearing of the near collapse of the Nigerian Capital Market (NCM) in Abuja Nigeria.
Mid March 2012, at a Public Hearing on the Nigerian Capital Market, Oteh, DG of Nigeria’s SEC said at a hearing that Lawmakers were not happy because she turned down the request of Herman Hembe the Chairman, House Committee on Capital Market for N44 million tip.
First, Oteh said the Lawmakers asked for N39 million to defray the cost of the ongoing Public Hearing, and when she denied, the Chairman asked for N5 million.
The N44 million bribe requested was in addition to SEC sponsoring a foreign trip for members of the Committee, and paying them estacodes
