Key Highlights
- In the Securities and Exchange Commission Act of 1988, the Federal High Court was vested with jurisdiction over violations arising from capital market transactions.
- Pursuant to 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.
- Investors’ confidence was not particularly helped by the delays encountered in the resolution of their disputes in the conventional courts.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has said that effective and efficient dispute resolution mechanisms by adjudicators will engender capital market growth and investors ‘confidence.
Yuguda made this known during a one-day workshop organized by the Investment and Securities Tribunal in collaboration with the Nigeria Bar Association with the theme “Law, Practice and Procedure of the IST” held at the SEC head office in Abuja.
Represented by Executive Commissioner Legal and Enforcement of SEC Mr. Reginald Karawusa, Yuguda revealed that the workshop is important for legal Practitioners who appear before the IST on behalf of their clients and lawyers who generally practice in the capital market.
- According to him, “This workshop is important for legal practitioners who appear before the IST on behalf of their clients and lawyers who generally practice in the capital market.
- “Lawyers play very prominent roles in the Capital market and as such should not only how to structure transactions but also have a clear knowledge of the procedure and the practices of appearing before the IST”.
- “It is a welcome development that workshops such as this are being held 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 calendar of the Investments and Securities Tribunal and the Nigerian Bar Association.
- “I commend the organizers 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 since it is lawyers frequently appear before the Tribunal“. Yuguda added.
The Chairman of IST, Mr. Amos Azi stated 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 added that pursuant to 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 as if it were 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-à-vis market performance” he said.
The IST Chairman stated that mindful of the need to be responsive to an ever-evolving market, the Tribunal reviewed its Procedure Rules, which were exposed to stakeholders for necessary inputs.
- “The new Rules which incorporated the use of technology and other trends in the market in the Tribunal’s proceedings further addressed all observed lacunae in the reviewed Rules.
