The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says it has reduced the time it takes for companies to obtain approval for offers to two weeks.
In a statement on Monday – yesterday, February 24 – in Abuja, the Commission said approvals would be granted to companies within two weeks once the necessary documents are complete.
SEC said this is to ensure that the capital market is more efficient and better positioned to aid the development of the country’s economy, explaining that issuers are not experiencing delays in their applications anymore due to various mechanisms adopted by the Commission to ensure that applications are swiftly attended to and approvals received in record time.
”The capital market is the life and blood of any economy and of course this is actually regulated by time.
“So, one of the first things we have tackled since we came was to reduce the time to market.
”Therefore, I can proudly say that we have reduced the time to market from over a year to fourteen days,” the SEC said.
The commission disclosed that in the banking recapitalisation exercise, banks were able to raise over N2.2 trillion from the capital market using the electronic offering platform.
”All of these transactions have been fully subscribed and we have encouraged the use of technology.
”They used the e-offering platform meaning you do not have to use paper anymore to apply in this market. We hope to get better by the day.
“Technology is the in-thing, the ISA 2007 has provided for that.
”The NGX has an e-IPO system and that has been proven to be very effective.
“All of the offers that came within this period were approved within 14 days as promised.
”In this year, we will make more use of technology in the work that we do,” SEC said.
The commission said it would remain committed to protecting investors and developing the market, according to a News Agency of Nigeria report.
