SEC, NITDA to collaborate on data protection in capital market

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has restated its preparedness to collaborate with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) to foster safe conducts and usage of personal data in the Nigerian capital market.

SEC’s Head, Corporate Communication, Mrs Efe Ebelo, in a statement on Sunday in Abuja, said that the Director-General of the Commission, Mr Lamido Yuguda, disclosed this during a webinar meeting on Nigerian Data Protection Regulation (NDPR).

Yuguda said that the commission was serious on the issue of data protection in the capital market, assuring that SEC will continue to create the necessary awareness.

He noted that the aim of the meeting was to enlighten the capital market community on the provisions of the NDPR.

“You may recall that in 2019, NITDA issued the NDPR with the objective of safeguarding the rights of persons to data privacy.

“It will also foster safe conduct for transactions involving the exchange of personal data, prevent manipulation of personal data and ensure that Nigerian businesses remain competitive internationally.

“By this regulation, therefore, all private and public organisations that collect, process, store, archive and destroy data of natural persons in Nigeria or of Nigerians resident abroad, are required to comply with the provisions of the regulation.

“Since the Commission and indeed all capital market operators perform these activities on data, as covered by the NITDA-NDPR, we are also subject to the new regulation, in one way or the other.”

The SEC director-general assured participants that the new management would interact with the market often, to develop the capital market and improve its contributions to the economy.

In his presentation, Mr Olufemi Daniel, the Lead-NDPR Desk of NITDA, assured of the readiness of the agency to provide advisory support on NDPR implementation for the market.

Daniel said that the agency was willing to work in synergy with SEC, to standardise compliance. (NAN)