OPERATORS WANT MORE REGULATORS' ATTENTION TO BOOST INVESTORS' CONFIDENCE

http://www.nigerianbestforum.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/nigerian_stock_exchange_14.jpg Following market regulators' commitment to zero tolerance for infraction, some shareholders in the market have called to more regulatory attention to investors, adding that this will enhance confidence of foreign and local investors in the nation's capital market.

They noted that the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other stakeholders need to do more to encourage domestic portfolio investment as against strong presence of foreign investors in the market.

The shareholders in a report monitored by Leadership said that most of them were aggrieved that the regulators abandoned them, in spite of boosting the nation's economy through domestic investments in the capital market and government bonds.

President of the Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria (PSAN), Boniface Okezie, urged the NSE, SEC and the Ministry of Finance to woo the investors back to the market since it had survived beyond the holocaust days.

He said that the current reforms being undertaken by the regulators alone could not restore lost confidence in the nation's capital market, but a coordinated enlightenment and people-friendly economic policies.

'The market we are seeing today on a rally point happened on its own and not because of a specific reform by the SEC or the NSE,'' he said.

Okezie said it was necessary for Nigerians to find out whether government's appointees had made any effort to embrace and woo back the investors who left.

'They need to talk to these investors and explain to them the reason the market is functioning the way it is,' he added. According to him, there is also the need for the regulators to address the issues that led to the loss.

The PSAN president said that asking multinationals to enlist on the market was not the way to go as it was still on a downward trend with no guarantee of a steady appreciation. Besides, the members of the quoted companies said the nonchalant attitude of regulators toward investors is a major cause of their dismal confidence in the market.