By MICHAEL EBOH

Managers of mutual funds and other collective investment schemes in the capital market will soon be required to attain certain professional qualification and adopt the International Financial Reporting Standards, IFRS, for their funds, according to a proposal put forward by the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC.

These, among many other issues, would be discussed at an interactive session comprising SEC officials with fund managers, trustees and custodians of unit trust schemes, the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, Central Securities Clearing System, CSCS and the Fund Managers Association of Nigeria, FMAN, today, at the Commission office, in Lagos.

According to a notice announcing the interactive session on development of the Collective Investment Schemes sector, SEC is hinted of plans to introduce stricter regulatory regime for the collective investment scheme sector, such as ensuring that custodians and fund managers submit half yearly report of their various funds and benchmarking the performance of the various funds.

The Commission is also considering classifying funds into fully regulated collective investment scheme, professional collective investment scheme or specialized collective investment scheme.

The interactive session, which would also have the Acting Director-General of SEC in attendance, will also see the Commission introducing certification and continuous professional development.

SEC said the proposed initiative is as a result of its desire to develop the Collective Investment Schemes sector of the Capital market and further deepen the Nigerian Capital Market as a whole.

The Commission is also considering other initiatives to develop the sector, saying that the interactive session will afford it the opportunity to discuss with stakeholders on likely reduction in funds’ expenses, especially in area of management fees and custodian fees.

The Commission further hinted that it is considering a number of incentives that will motivate growth of the various funds.

The Distribution and sales points of the various funds and report on migration to Custodians will also be among the major issue to be considered by stakeholders at the session.