The House of Representatives has passed for second reading, a bill seeking to establish a Chartered Institute of Securities and Investments to replace the existing Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers.
Sponsored by Chairman of the House Capital Market, Babangida Ibrahim, the legislation is titled, ‘A Bill for an Act to Repeal the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers Act, Cap. C9, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and Provide for Establishment of Chartered Institute of Securities and Investments.’
Addressing journalists after the passage, Ibrahim noted that the proposal seeks to widen the scope of the existing institute.
He said in part, “When we talk about the institute, it is a ground for training operators. Capital market is one of the places where even globally emphasis is being made as a vehicle for improving the economy of any nation. And if you don’t have well-trained professionals within the capital market, there will be a lot of violations. Investors’ confidence may be lost, especially foreign investors.
“As a result of incompetence of operators, there is likely to be so many damages and somebody can lose his investments as a result of the incompetence of somebody. So, the role of the institute is to train all those professionals working in the capital market and to ensure that the ethics of the profession is maintained.
“So, when you see an institution – any institution of any nature like ICAN, ANAN, CITN, all of them, the bottom line is to ensure that they produce quality professionals, with good outstanding ethics and conduct. So, these are key in every operation of any market.”
According to the lawmaker, when there are quality professionals that have passed through the training of the institute, the market will perform better and as a result will translate into moving the economy.
Ibrahim added, “The Federal Government should turn their heads and look at the capital market when it comes to issues of policies because the capital market is one of the best avenues where you can boost the economy of any nation. So, a lot of money can be raised through the capital market.”
