By Obas Esiedesa, Abuja

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday said it has reduced the time it takes for companies to get approval to raise funds in the capital market to 14 days.

The Director General of the SEC, Dr Emomotimi Agama in a statement by the Commission explained that the reduction in the time to market will ensure that the capital market is more efficient and better positioned to aid the development of the Nigerian economy.

Agama emphasized that before the current SEC management came on board it took over a year for companies to obtain such approvals.

“Since we came on board, it is instructive to say that we have helped propel the economy. One of the things that has been a challenge before we came to the saddle was time to market, issuers will come to the market and they will spend time before they get approval to be able to raise capital.

“The Capital market is the life and blood of any economy or any company and of course this is actually regulated by time. So one of the first things we have tackled since we came was to reduce the time to market. Therefore, I can proudly say that we have reduced the time to market from over a year to fourteen days.

Agama said the banking recapitalization exercise, banks were able to raise over N2.2trn from the Nigerian Capital market using the e-offering platform.

He said issuers did not experience delays in their applications because the Commission had various mechanisms in place to ensure that applications were swiftly attended to and approvals received in record time.

“In addition, all of these transactions have been fully subscribed and we have encouraged the use of technology. They used the e-offering platform meaning you do not have to use paper anymore to apply in this market. We hope to get better by the day.

“Technology is the in-thing, Section 55 of the ISA 2007 has provided for that and we feel that to be able to achieve the milestone we want in the market we need to do better and we applied that in the bank recapitalization and the success is massive and overwhelming. The NGX has an e-IPO system and that has been proven to be very effective.

“All of the offers that came within this period were within 14 days as promised. The next level was a subscription that happened through the NGX platform and we approved it. We saw many young people coming into the market because we have seen that technology has attracted more Nigerians to the market. In this year, we will make more use of technology in the work that we do,” he stated.

The SEC DG stated that the Commission realizes the strength of the capital market in moving the economy hence its determination to ensure that the market is able to provide solutions within the economy.

“What is new for us is efficiency, dedication and giving back to society by using the capital market as an engine of growth and propeller of wealth for all Nigerians. We must give back by ensuring that Nigerians are properly served. The SEC is committed to protecting investors and developing the market.

“We must do everything within our powers and the laws to provide that and ensure Nigerians are happy again in investing in the market and making wealth for Nigerians,” he added.