COVID-19: SEC urges investors to explore opportunities in capital market

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has called on investors to explore opportunities inherent in the capital market to create wealth in the face of the Coronavirus pandemic. 

A statement by Mrs Efe Ebelo, the Head, Corporate Communication of SEC, quoted Ms Mary Uduk, the Acting Director-General of the commission as making the call in Abuja on Tuesday.

Uduk said the commission was aware of the economic implications of the pandemic and had ensured that the market remained open for trading.

She noted that before the partial relaxation of the lockdown, both SEC and stakeholders in the market had been working remotely in a bid to ensure there was no shut down.

”As the pandemic continues to ravage the world, businesses and individuals suffer the effects, Nigerians are urged to look to the capital market as an avenue to create wealth.

”We must continue to make the best we can of the situation. 

”As a regulator, we have put measures in place to ensure our market does not shut down, trade is presently going on at the various exchanges that make up our market. 

”The Nigerian Stock Exchange is continuing with trading, the FMDQ and all the Exchanges are actually continuing and everything is going well. 

“We are leveraging on technology to continue our activities,” she said. 

Uduk expressed satisfaction with the way the market was going during these challenging times and urged investors to continue to invest stressing that the market was safe. 

On investor’s confidence in the period of the pandemic, she said the commission had put measures in place to improve market confidence. 

The acting director-general described investor’s protection as one of the mandates of the commission bearing in mind that investors would not come into the market in the absence of adequate protection. (NAN)