Shareholders lament absence of investors protection fund at NSE

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has yet to compensate investors under its Investor Protection Fund (IPF) five months after its operational rules were approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The rules guiding the application of the IPF, established to mitigate investors losses, was approved by SEC on Jan. 23.

Mr Oscar Onyema, the Chief Executive Officer of NSE, had during the 2013 market review in January, said the board would pay the first batch of aggrieved investors as soon SEC approved the rules.

IPF was established to give investors a statutory avenue for reducing the losses they suffer as a result of bankruptcy, insolvency, negligence or wrongdoing by dealing members of the NSE. A check revealed that the fund’s board of trustees was still battling with the verification of about 300 claims submitted by individuals and companies.

A management source at NSE, who pleaded anonymity, said the board of trustees had appointed an external auditor to audit the accounts of the various claims submitted by individuals and companies. He said the board was working to ensure that IPF was regulated, managed, operated and administered in accordance with the highest standards.

According to him, the verification is to ensure that genuine claimants received compensation in line with the provisions of the rules.

The source also said that the compensation would start at the completion of the verification, adding that Onyema had directed that the issue be completed as soon as possible.

Alhaji Gbadebo Olatokunbo, member, Nigeria Shareholders Solidarity Association (NSSA), called for a blueprint on the fund’s operations for proper understanding of shareholders. Olatokunbo said that shareholders had yet to get the clear picture of who should benefit or not. He said that the shareholders and the NSE were not on the same page, noting that shareholders were of the belief that people who lost their investments during the market crash needed to be compensated.

According to him, NSE needs to educate local investors on the operation of the fund and those qualified to benefit from it.

“NSE did not seek our opinion before creating the fund, we are not their target; because we have yet to know how we shall be protected with the fund,” he said. Also speaking, Mr Boniface Okezie, President, Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, called for a nationwide enlightenment programme for better understanding and credibility.

Okezie said that most investors were unaware of the fund, rules and processes involved in making claims. He said the compensation was long overdue, noting that it was paramount for confidence building as most retail investors had vowed not to invest in the market due to their past experiences.
Okezie also said that regulators’ negligence in carrying the shareholders along in constituting the IPF board of trustees was part of the fund’s problem. NSE had in September 2012, inaugurated a board of trustees headed by Dr Gamaliel Onosode to manage the Investors Protection Fund.