SEC To Choose Alternative Securities Market

 

In line with international best practice, Nigeria’s Security Exchange Commission (SEC) has revealed plans to choose consulting firm, investment banks or accounting firm as an efficient Alternative Securities Market (ASM) in the Nigerian Capital Market (NCM).

This came at the heel of the NSE’s move to overhaul its second-tier market to (ASM), to enable Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) that are emerging and showing good growth potentials to participate and access finance from the Nigerian Capital Market.

According to the Director-General, SEC, Arumna Oteh, the process would enable companies meet all the post –listing requirements adding that these advisers would form all the listing processes, as well as access the delisting firms in the initiative.

“We are looking at what we have in United Kingdom and South Africa which is to nominate adviser, ether accounting firm, investment bank or consulting firm who can help to form the listing process and also help to access delisting firms so that they can meet the post-listing requirement.”

ASM, NSE head, Franklin Nwaubani stated that the Exchange has put structures in place to ensure that these companies sustain growth and would eventually list on the stock market.

“We are revamping what we used to know as Second-tier market . We are re-christening it the alternative securities market and we are using the avenue to bring in SMEs that are emerging and showing good growth potentials to access finance from the capital market .

“We have put structures in place to ensure that these hope comes to operation that these companies would eventually grow and become big companies that can list on the Exchange with other bluechip companies.”

She added that SEC is reviewing and addressing all issues and complaints made by the telecomm and oil and gas companies to make the market more attractive.

“For the big companies that said I am a very large company, do you think there will be enough liquidity in my company if I list here, we are addressing that and that is why we brought NICON and others so that they can ensure that investible assets in Nigeria are able to take the high quality companies and in fact, we have foreign investors putting I money in the country because we believe in strong investment,” Oteh said.