SEC Amending ISA 2007 To Cover Current Market Realities

By InsideBusiness Last updated Aug 16, 2022

Executive Commissioner. Operations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Dayo Obisan has said that the Investment and Securities Act 2007 is currently undergoing amendment to cover the current realities in the market and the economy in general.

“We are in the process of amending our enabling law and it has reached an advanced stage in the National Assembly. There is a need to review the law because a lot has happened since the law came into effect in 2007. The essence is to capture all new developments that have taken place in the market within the period. Since the last review in 2007, a lot has happened like Covid-19, and technology has taken a bolder stand. Even within the market, there are a lot of other innovative instruments that have come that the law at that time did not envisage. Again, there is nothing cast in stone and we have to keep evolving to ensure we are adequately backed by the relevant sections of the law to enable us to carry out our functions.

L-R, Deputy Manager, International Relations, Securities and Exchange Commission Ms Anwulika Odinuwe, Head Corporate Finance Zimbabwe SEC, Mr Kundai Msemburi, Executive Commissioner Operations SEC Mr Dayo Obisan, Revenue Accounts Department Zimbabwe SEC Mr Innocent Frank and Head Economic Research SEC Dr Hassan Suleiman Hassan during a Meeting between The SEC Nigeria and Zimbabwe SEC in Abuja yesterday 15/8/22

Obisan, on Monday told a delegation from the Securities and Exchange Commission, Zimbabwe who visited to exchange ideas and boost regulatory efforts.

A lot has happened since 2007 when the current act was enacted, and the desire of the Commission to be in tune with current realities also necessitated the review of the capital market master plan which came into effect in 2014.

“The issue of transfer of assets was not as aggressive as it is now, we did not even have so many Automated Teller Machines at the time, but that is not the case today. A lot of things are now being done digitally and the plan did not envisage all of those. There are some other activities and laws that impact the capital market and we need to keep looking at our regulations to avoid a disconnect. We need to constantly evolve

“The plan came into effect in 2014 and was meant to run till 2025. But now we are halfway through and we saw the need to amend it. This is because in 2014 our focus was different, fintech was not this bold, and cryptocurrencies and virtual assets were not this prominent.

L-R, Head Corporate Finance Zimbabwe Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr Kundai Msemburi, Executive Commissioner Operations SEC Mr Dayo Obisan, Revenue Accounts Department Zimbabwe SEC Mr Innocent Frank, Head Economic Research SEC Dr Hassan Suleiman Hassan and Accounting Assistant Zimbabwe SEC Ms Kudzai Satumiza during a Meeting between The SEC Nigeria and Zimbabwe SEC in Abuja yesterday 15/8/22

“Fintech is not a walk in the park, we need to understand what we want to regulate, it is a constant phase and we need to keep updating our knowledge to be able to regulate properly. The regulator has to be a step ahead and that was why we created a Division on Innovation in 2018. The tech penetration in Nigeria is growing and the regulator needs to be abreast with the trend and that is a sort of change we need to be able to accommodate” he added.

While he stressed the protection of investors in the capital market as a top priority of the Commission, he also informed of a robust rule-making process that is meant to take care of current issues as well as create an enabling environment for innovation to thrive in the capital market.

Head Corporate Finance Zimbabwe Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr Kundai Msemburi, Executive Commissioner Operations SEC Mr Dayo Obisan and Revenue Accounts Department Zimbabwe SEC Mr Innocent Frank during a Meeting between The SEC Nigeria and Zimbabwe SEC in Abuja yesterday 15/8/22

This will aid the stimulation of growth in the economy, attract more investors to the market as well as ensure that investors are protected.

SEC Nigeria has a dual mandate to regulate and develop the capital market in Nigeria, and both roles are very delicate in a bid to ensure that the market is attractive to investors.

“They are both delicate roles because if you focus more on regulation, development suffers, and if development suffers growth is stifled. And if growth is stifled it is just a matter of time and the market will be at the receiving end.

“If you focus more on development, on the other hand, things have the potential of going haywire and you could just be running a market that is not co-ordinated and price transparency and investor protection will suffer. Those are the things we have sworn to do by the provision of the law that created us.

Head Corporate Finance Zimbabwe SEC, Kundai Msemburi said the delegation decided to visit SEC Nigeria in a bid to exchange ideas and boost regulatory efforts.

SEC Zimbabwe is in Nigeria to find out how the Commission deals with issues of regulation especially the collapse of the crypto exchanges collapse in the country.

“We are keen to see how the bigger markets operate and see how best to get a grip on the regulation of our market. We know that investor education is very important in any market” he stated.