The Chairman of the Investment and Securities Tribunal, Amos Azi, has said that delay in resolving disputes related to the capital market affects investors’ confidence in the market.
Azi said this on Wednesday at the one-day workshop organised by the IST in collaboration with the Nigerian Bar Association with the theme ‘Law, Practice and Procedure of the IST’ which was held at the head office of the Securities and Exchange Commission in Abuja.
In a statement issued by the Commission, Azi said that by the Securities And Exchange Commission Act of 1988, the Federal High Court was vested with jurisdiction over violations arising from capital market transactions.
Azi said under the said Act the SEC established the Administrative Hearing Proceedings Committee to resolve capital market disputes and appeals lay therefrom to the Federal High Court.
“Unfortunately the Federal High Courts were largely unable to appreciate the peculiar nature of the capital market; being very time sensitive. Investors’ confidence was not particularly helped by the delays encountered in the resolution of their disputes in the conventional courts as the transactions in the market increased, thereby impacting negatively on investors’ confidence vis-a-vis market performance” he said.
Also, speaking at the workshop, the Director General of the SEC, Lamido Yuguda, said that the capital market, which is considered the catalyst for economic growth, must be sustained by an effective and efficient dispute resolution mechanism by adjudicators who are subject matter experts to engender investors’ confidence.
Yuguda, who was represented by Executive Commissioner (Legal and Enforcement) SEC, Reginald Karawusa, said that the workshop is important for legal practitioners who appear before the IST on behalf of their clients and lawyers who generally practise in the capital market.
The SEC DG said the workshop will among others discuss topical issues such as the status, jurisdiction and power of the tribunal, transactions and dispute resolution in the Nigeria capital market; the role of lawyers and panel discussions on these topics.
“It is a welcome development that a workshop such as this is holding at this period when the new IST procedure has been published. I would encourage and recommend that this workshop be an annual feature in the calendars of the Investments and Securities Tribunal and the Nigerian Bar Association.
“I commend the organisers of this workshop and assure the Bar Association and the IST that the commission would be ready to support them and also share in the knowledge and experience this workshop will produce,” Yuguda added.
