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The management of the Nigerian Stock
Exchange (NSE) has appealed to shareholders of quoted stocks to support
the market through regular report of unethical practices of companies.

Sola Oni,
spokesperson for the NSE, in a statement at the weekend, said Emmanuel
Ikazoboh, interim administrator of the NSE, gave the advice when some
members of the Ibadan Zone of the Shareholders’ Association paid him a
courtesy visit.

Mr. Ikazoboh said
investors should also support the market through positive comments.
“Investors are the nerve centre of the market otherwise there would be
no market,” he said.

Meanwhile, the
association’s six-man executive members, led by its chairman, Aderemi
Oyepeju, passed a vote of confidence on the Exchange’s management for
working to reinforce investors’ confidence in the stock market. They
said the on-going market reform will put every operator and quoted
company on their toes.

The group also
commended the Exchange’s recent sanction of all erring quoted companies
that have reneged in meeting their responsibilities, listing
obligations such as prompt release of financial statements and payments
of listing fees among others. “Such zero tolerance is much needed to
build the market” Mr. Oyepeju said.

They expressed
dismay at the way many investors have suffered untold hardship due to
lack of regular information from quoted companies and unethical
practices of some market operators.

They urged the
Exchange’s management not to relent in its efforts at ensuring
compliance with market rules and regulations by operators and quoted
companies.

Necessary machinery

The shareholders
also urged the NSE to put necessary machinery in motion to ensure that
private companies no longer use listing of shares on the Exchange as a
marketing gimmick for private placement. According to them, “Many
investors have got their fingers burnt through participation in private
placement as those companies hardly apply for listing after the offer.”
Commenting on the modalities for payment of dividend by quoted
companies, the shareholders suggested the need for banks to device a
means of informing shareholders whenever dividends are credited into
their accounts under the new regime of e-dividend.

On the on-going
discourse on the status of registrars, they endorsed independence of
registrars for enhanced professionalism and avoidance of avoid conflict
of interest. However, they admonished the registrars to always treat
verification of share certificates with dispatch.

On the need to
strengthen prompt communication between the market and investors, the
group urged the exchange to ensure that Central Securities Clearing
System (CSCS) alerts investors anytime transaction is about to be
effected on their stocks.

The group lauded the on-going market
reform by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) but cautioned
that it should be handled in a way that would not heat up the system.
They said, “The Exchange has a lot of potentials that would always make
it attractive to investors globally as long as investors’ confidence is
sustained.” In his response, Mr. Ikazoboh thanked the group for their
confidence in his administration and the Exchange’s management and
noted that virtually all the issues they raised are being addressed.
For instance, he explained that a new window created by the Exchange to
address the challenges of private placement has commenced operation. He
assured them that all forms of breach of market rules and regulations
shall continue to attract stiff sanctions. He informed them that
operation of trade alert is being reviewed to make it more effective
and efficient as a monitoring device.