BY PETER EGWUATU
The Chairperson, Africa Middle East Regional Committee (AMERC) of the International Organizations of Securities Commission (IOSCO) and Director General of the Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms Arunma Oteh has stressed the need for stronger and better regulatory cooperation among members in order to compete globally.

In her opening remarks at the AMERC’s conference held last weekend in Mauritus, she said that there are bound to be challenges in the quest for stronger and better regulatory cooperation, some of which may be legal and organizational in nature.

In her words, “ there will also be new challenges as well, as the markets become more sophisticated in operations and in content due to the restructuring and reforms embarked upon in response to the global financial crisis.

To make our regulatory cooperation very effective and to be able to surmount these challenges, regulatory capacity must constantly be developed through training and re-training. We should however not be discouraged by the huge financial cost that is usually  required for capacity building as investing in our human capital development yields a high return on investment”.

While urging members to be prepared for the challenges ahead, Arunma noted that effective supervision in today’s global environment requires that regulators be well equipped with the necessary enforcement tools, adding that  emphasis should be placed on regulatory cooperation.

While recognizing the fact that such collaboration and cooperation is critical to help ensure the efficient regulation, particularly of globally active entities, she said, “ this is why I encourage all of us to strive towards attaining IOSCO’s Appendix ‘A’ Signatory which has a deadline of December 31, 2012.  Bilateral supervisory arrangements should also be explored in addition to the regional MoUs which our colleagues from the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) have earlier talked about”.

To promote greater effectiveness, she also said that regulatory cooperation should be to make supervision of internationally active financial institutions more effective through a clear understanding of home and host country responsibilities and adequate flows of information and analysis of their operations.

The AMEC Chairman stressed further the importance of information sharing adding that “ the desire to exchange information in an effort to identify potential sources of financial instability and to take action to help mitigate the buildup of risks in international financial markets, particularly those potentially posing systemic risks should be one of our goals in promoting regulatory cooperation”.