By Obas Esiedesa, Abuja

The Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, Mr. Lamido Yuguda, has explained that it was too early to measure the impact of the reinstatement of tax rebate on corporate bond investment.

Briefing journalists on the outcome of the 2nd virtual capital market committee meeting, Yuguda explained, “for any asset class, investment is a function of many considerations, tax is only one part of the consideration. Although it is only a part, it is an important consideration especially when the tax rate is high.

‘‘Considering that this happened only this year, it is very premature to draw inferences on whether the decline or increase in corporate bond investments has actually had something to with the tax rebate.

“The tax is a very important factor and that is why we believe that the tax rebate should be reinstated and the market also believes that and we have been working with the tax authorities and the fiscal authorities to advocate for that return to status quo”, he stated.

Yuguda also harped on the need for stakeholders in the capital market to reduce the level of unclaimed dividends in the sector, adding that it was important that the stakeholders intensify the implementation of the Electronic Dividend Mandate Management System (eDMMS).