…As Dafinone, Madueke call for new approach
By Emma Ogbuehi
The Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) Director General, Dr. Lamido Yuguda and Executive Secretary, Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN), Daniel Asapokhai have vowed to improve regulation in the country in furtherance of federal government’s policy on the ease of doing business.
The duo who stated this on the occasion of Issuers and Investors Alternative Dispute Resolution Initiative(IIADRI) Symposium held at the LCCI Exhibition Centre, Alausa –Ikeja, Lagos, urged Nigerians to be patient with regulators in the in the overall interest of the country.
Speaking at the event, the two lead speakers, Igbo Dafinone, Managing Partner, Crowe Dafinone and Mrs. Cecilia Madueke, company secretary, Julius Berger Plc stressed the need for regulators in the financial sector to change their modus operandi.
They emphasized the need for regulators to have a human face in regulating operators, saying that the current arrangement is oppressive and over-bearing at times.
They argued that if the ease of doing business mantra of the federal government is to work out well, there is the need for the regulators to change from their conservative approach.
They called for the reformation of multiple taxation policies in the country, incessant fines, frequent change of policies without adequate notice or consultation.
Another two participants at the event, Kayode Adeleke and Ayo Kudaisi accused regulators in the financial sector of being responsible for the increasing number on quoted companies who are de-listing from the Nigerian Stock Exchange and for the huge number of foreign investors escaping from the country.
Adeleke said the difficulty posed by hardline regulation in place is also responsible for the many Nigerian youths moving to foreign lands in droves.
The Chairman of IIADRI, Moses Igbrude in his remarks said the yearly Issuers and Investors Clinic series are aimed at annually providing the needed platform where stakeholders within the Nigerian investment space meet to express views, interact and engage in discussing topical issues.
Dafinone however, said that the call for a more effective regulation is not a call for lax regulation or no regulation at all, saying that is what is being called for is for a sort of regulation that will enable Nigeria achieve its goal of ease in doing business in Nigeria.
The FRCN official at the event disclosed during the symposium that some the regulators are already meeting to ensure a single window in the area of making returns
