SEC, NAICOM To Derisk Commodity Assets

THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has revealed plans to collaborate with the National Insurance Commission(NAICOM) towards insuring certain commodity assets to attract more investments within the space, especially from the pensions industry.

The collaboration is expected to deepen the commodities ecosystem in the country.

The Director-General of SEC, Lamido Yuguda, stated this while addressing journalists after the second Capital Market Committee (CMC) meeting.

According to the DG, a technical committee was set up that included representatives of the Commission, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), AFEX, Lagos Commodities & Futures Exchange (LCFE) and Nigerian Commodities Exchange (NCX) to deliver agro-based standards within three months.

To develop an effective price discovery mechanism for the commodities ecosystem, he noted that, his commission had equally solicited the support of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), adding that, a technical committee has been formed for this purpose with the mandate of developing modalities for the exercise.

Yuguda advised Nigerians to stop investing in Ponzi schemes, adding that, any investment scheme with unrealistic returns should be treated with caution.

“Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation where the operator, an individual or organisation, pays returns to its investors from new capital paid to the operators by new investors, rather than from profit earned through legitimate sources,” he said.

He advised Nigerians to always check the commission’s website for list of approved capital market operators before making investment decisions.