COVID-19: SEC Suspends Physical Meetings, Issues Fresh Guidelines For Capital Market

The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued fresh guidelines to regulate entities and capital market stakeholders following the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Commission in a circular issued on Monday said it has suspended all physical meetings and visits to its offices till further notice.

In order to protect investors and not disrupt activities in the capital market, the Commission said its operations will now become fully electronic.

While describing the market-focused adjustments as temporary, it encouraged capital market operators and other stakeholders to conduct meetings and other engagements virtually.

It also advised public companies to take appropriate precautionary measures as recommended by the Federal and State governments as well as the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.

It said the precautions were vital in ensuring the safety of shareholders and participants at their Annual General Meetings/Extra-Ordinary General Meetings and other meetings which may be held during the prevalence of the pandemic.

According to SEC, “The adjustments became necessary to sustain the actualisation of its regulatory mandate and maintain the integrity of the Nigerian capital market during this challenging period.

“We will continue to issue updates to market stakeholders as appropriate and closely coordinate with other financial regulators and governmental authorities.”

The Commission said, for now, all applications should be made electronically to some dedicated email addresses.

It said for the registration of funds and other relevant filings, a mail can be sent to [email protected]

The Commission said the registration of securities, public offers, mergers and acquisition, debt issuances and others can be done to [email protected].

It added that fresh applications for registration of capital market operators and pending applications and requests by CMOs for an update of information should be forwarded to [email protected].
For filing of returns by public companies, it urged participants to send their requests to [email protected],

It further said shareholders with five per cent and more stakes can file their returns to [email protected]

“The Federal Ministry of Health and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has warned that the country is on the verge of a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“All stakeholders in the Nigerian capital market are encouraged to adhere to all recent directives by the relevant agencies on safety and social distancing” the circular added.