The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has said that it is set to build a world-class market that would rank among the top 20 markets of the world in the next 10 years.
The Director-General of the SEC, Ms Arunma Oteh who disclosed this why addressing the capital market community at the first quarter Post-Centenary CMC media briefing in
Lagos yesterday, said that the Commission has already strengthening its regulatory framework, especially in the areas of over-lap to hit the target.
Apart from regulation, she stated that the commission would also review transaction costs and benchmark it with other Exchanges of the world.
She pointed out that the Commission has employed the services of professionals to look at transaction costs in other jurisdictions
Oteh, recently disclosed in a forum that SEC is working with the Stock Exchange along with the Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) to sponsor the transaction cost analysis.
“This is because the issue around cost of transaction in Nigeria is an issue that we have heard about and I think it is important that we have the exact data”, she said.
She explained that when the volumes of transactions go up, the brokers and other participants would be more inclined to reducing cost, adding that in the last six years, the SEC has reduced cost of transactions twice.
Oteh, said that the transaction cost analysis would be concluded very soon and there would be more flexibility. “What we say to the market is that if the costs are down, the volume will go up.
So, I think it is an evolutionary process and sometimes I think liquidity is what really reflects in our market. With the introduction of market making, we have a 20 per cent increase in terms of daily trading volume, but it is nothing compared to where it should be.
