SEC, operators appoint Accenture dematerialisation project manager

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and operators in the capital market have appointed Accenture, a leading consulting and management firm, the project manager for the nation’s bourse dematerialisation.
Accenture’s mandate also covers the direct payment to clients and mass trading being implemented in the market.
A management source, who pleaded anonymity, said in Lagos that the firm would act as project manager for the full dematerialisation of the market.
Dematerialisation is the process of replacing paper certificates with electronic records at the Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS).
The source said the appointment of Accenture by stakeholders in the market was to guide the process and ensure smooth running of the various initiatives in the market.
According to the source, the plan of the present SEC management is to ensure implementation of the various initiatives done by Capital Market Committee in the past five years.
He said the consulting firm would work closely with a technical committee appointed by the commission to ensure a smooth transition.
He said the report of the dematerialisation committee had been with SEC for five years, noting that the commission’s management remained committed to the full implementation of dematerialisation.
Mr. Mounir Gwarzo, SEC Director-General, had at the first Capital Market Committee (CMC) meeting in the year pledged that the final blueprint of the dematerialisation document would be ready in July.
Gwarzo said the commission would at the second quarter CMC release the final blueprint of the dematerialisation for effective implementation.
The director-general said that the blueprint would address legacy issues that had affected the dematerialisation exercise.
“The CMC dematerialisation committee submitted an extensive report, we are now talking of implementation and we have set up a technical committee to handle it,’’ Gwarzo said.
He said that the report of the technical committee comprising the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Registrars, SEC and the Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS), would be out by the next CMC meeting.
The director-general said that the major aim of the technical committee was to drive the dematerialisation implementation.
He said the CMC was working to ensure that funds from transactions would be credited directly into the investor’s accounts rather than through the stockbrokers.
“One area that we also think will encourage investors greatly is the area of direct payment where if a client gives his shares to be sold, the proceeds would be credited to his account directly,’’ he said. (NAN)