By Yakubu LAAH InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-The Nigerian stock exchange (NSE) has announced it will commence sanction for breach of the new rules governing its issuers’ portal with effect from January 2015 for misleading information.

The two categories to be sanctioned with effect from January 2015 is the issuers’ portal rules set forth in paragraphs 3 and 4 which states that only representatives of an issuer authorised to use the portal to submit information are to do so; this maybe the issuer’s company secretary, chief finance officer or any of their designee.

Also, an issuer is required to exercise all reasonable care to ensure that any information it submits via the portal is accurate, not misleading, false or deceptive ‘’and does not omit any material facts likely to affect the import of such information,’’ the NSE said.

The second category of paragraphs 9 (a) and (b) which shall be enforced from January 01, 2015 focused on all information submitted to the NSE via the issuers’ portal must meet the minimum disclosure requirements.

A statement dated June 05 and signed by Tinuade Awe, NSE’s head/legal and regulation division and made available to InvestAdvocate said following the approval of the rules by Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), with the exclusion of paragraphs 9 (a) and (b), the above mentioned rules, which are available on The Exchange’s website?, became effective on 23 January 2014. ‘’Enforcement of the effective rules shall be with effect from 5 July 2014.  Paragraphs 9 (a) and (b) shall be enforced from 1 January 2015,’’ she said.

This is coming on the heels of the approval of the issuers’ portal rules by SEC on January 16, 2014.

The Nigeria’s exchange on Tuesday, March 26, 2013 in Lagos, Nigeria launched the issuers’ portal as one of its new regulatory initiatives which will allow online information submission for enhanced interaction between the NSE and listed companies.

The NSE said the X-Issuer is a secure on-line portal through which issuers will submit financial and other information to it and the market from the comfort of their offices.

Apart from easy submission of information, the NSE affirmed that the portal would encourage transparency, accountability and will help expedite the discharge of issuers’ post-listings obligations relating to structured and continuous disclosures.

The issuers’ portal will also check or eliminate leakage of sensitive information due to the minimal time between submission by the issuer and release to the market.