A New Face for the Corporate Ombudsman
By Anthony Akaeze
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Musa Al-Faki, director-general of Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, succeeds in re-positioning the commission for better result
He has provided useful leadership as helmsman of the Securities and Exchange Commission SEC in the last four years. Musa Al-Faki, in his four-year stint as director- general of SEC has been able to reposition the commission for effective monitoring service in the nation's financial sector. The commission is the apex regulatory agency of the Nigerian capital market charged with the dual responsibilities of regulating and developing the market.
Under Al-Faki's direction and leadership, SEC, as a financial regulatory body, and in line with international best practice and standard, has prescribed new benchmarks for capital market operators aimed at ensuring optimum financial transactions that will benefit Nigerians of all class.
Taking advantage of the consolidation already in several aspects of the financial market, SEC recently prescribed a new capital base for capital market operators. This is meant to enhance operators' efficiency and competitiveness within the industry. That is not all. The Al-Faki-led SEC has been positioning players in the capital market to have access to more capital in order to reap the benefits made possible by financial market globalisation.
Also, in its determined effort to ensure that the domestic capital market is made competitive to attract both local and foreign investment, the commission has reduced the capital market fees for both primary and secondary markets transactions.
The Nigerian capital market has also witnessed tremendous growth in recent years. For instance, the all-share index, as at November 2007, stood at 54,189.92. This is a remarkable improvement from the previous 5,672.7 points recorded in 1998. Also, the total market capitalisation increased considerably from 262.5 billion in 1998 to 9.11 trillion as at the same November 2007.
The Al-Faki's SEC also launched new products, in response to increasing demand of clients, to cater for specific needs of the individual and corporate organisations. This explains the Mortgage Backed Securities, MBSs, and Real Estate Investment Trusts, REITs, now in the market, and aimed at providing affordable mortgage finance to clients. Even then, the commission is encouraging investors to embrace e- dividend to tackle the unclaimed dividend problem. In partnership with Debt Management Office, DMO, and the International Finance Corporation, SEC has played active roles in promoting the development of the bond market in Nigeria. This has further deepened the market and enhanced the economic growth of the country.
Such turn-around could not have been otherwise, given the strides of the commission. In view of its regulatory role, the quality of service delivery has been enhanced in the market. Progress was also made in the area of automation of market processes through electronic filing, e-trading, remote trading, e-bonus, e-dividends and electronic issuance of securities among others.
SEC's remarkable achievements has ensured that people now have greater confidence in the commission. Investor confidence and awareness has increased with the upsurge in capital market activities.
But the commission is not done yet. Determined to ensure that the Nigerian capital market lives up to expectation in the wave of globalisation, liberalisation, innovation and deregulation, the Al-Faki leadership is set to establish internationally competitive market structures in areas of payment, trading, clearing and settlement systems, listing requirements and minimum infrastructural standards. In that light, the SEC's vision is to transform Nigeria into a leading international capital market centre and preferred investment destination in Africa.
Born on March 23, 1960 in Yerwa, Maiduguri Metropolis, Al-Faki had his Primary education at Yerwa Practising Primary School, in the old Borno province, between 1967 and 1974. He later proceeded to the Government Secondary School Giedam, now in Yobe State, from where he obtained his O' level certificate in 1979. This was followed by a two-year stint at the Borno College of Basic Studies. Thereafter, he gained admission into the university of Maiduguri to read Political Science and Public Administration. This was in 1982. After graduating in 1986, Al-Faki had his National Youth Service programme at APTEAM Integrated Consultants in Imo State. He earned a Master Degree in Business Administration, MBA, at the Ambrose Alli University, Edo State in 2000. Al-Faki has extensive working experience over the years, starting with his stint at IMB Securities, an affiliate of IMB PLC where he worked as a management trainee and has attended numerous courses in the course of his career both at home and abroad.
He is also a member of many professional bodies such as the Governing Council of the Nigerian Stock Exchange as well as the Quotation Committee of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
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