SEC Reduces Company Offer Approval Time to Just Two Weeks

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has drastically reduced the approval timeline for company offers from over a year to just two weeks. In a statement released on Monday, the commission emphasized that approvals will now be granted within 14 days once all required documentation is complete. This initiative aims to boost the efficiency of Nigeria’s capital market and support economic growth.

“The capital market is the lifeblood of any economy and is regulated by time. One of the first things we tackled was to reduce the time to market. I can proudly say that we have reduced the time to market from over a year to fourteen days,” the SEC stated.

The commission also highlighted the success of the recent banking recapitalization exercise, in which banks raised over N2.2 trillion through the capital market via the electronic offering platform. “All of these transactions have been fully subscribed, and we have encouraged the use of technology. The e-offering platform means you do not have to use paper anymore to apply in this market. We hope to get better by the day,” the statement added.

Underscoring the importance of technological advancements, the SEC noted the effectiveness of the NGX’s electronic IPO system. “Technology is the in-thing, and the ISA 2007 has provided for that. All of the offers that came within this period were approved within 14 days as promised. This year, we will make more use of technology in the work that we do,” the commission said.