SEC reduces capital market approval time to 14 days 

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday, reduced the time it takes for companies to get approval to raise funds in the capital market to 14 days.

Dr. Emomotimi Agama, the Director General of the SEC, in a statement, explained that the reduction in the time to market will ensure that the capital market is more efficient and better positioned to aid the development of the Nigerian economy.

Agama noted that before the current SEC management came on board it took over a year for companies to obtain such approvals.

“Since we came on board, it is instructive to say that we have helped propel the economy. One of the things that has been a challenge before we came to the saddle was time to market, issuers will come to the market and they will spend time before they get approval to be able to raise capital.

“The Capital market is the life and blood of any economy or any company 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.

Agama said the banking recapitalization exercise, banks were able to raise over N2.2trn from the Nigerian Capital market using the e-offering platform.

He said issuers did not experience delays in their applications because the Commission had various mechanisms in place to ensure that applications were swiftly attended to and approvals received in record time.

“In addition, 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.”