The International Organisation of Securities Commission (IOSCO) has restated its determination to continue to protect investors and sustain growth of the capital markets across the globe.
IOSCO Board met in Toronto, Canada, where it restated the determination and commitment to protect investors.
The Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr. Mounir Gwarzo, participated actively in the meetings in his capacity as the Chairman of Africa and Middle East Regional Committee (AMERC) and member of the management team and the Board of IOSCO.
According to statement made available on the website of SEC on Monday, the discussions at the IOSCO meetings focused on priority areas of the IOSCO 2020 Strategic Direction.
These include identifying and responding to global market developments and the inherent risks, providing assistance to IOSCO members, especially in the area of capacity building and technical assistance, and supporting efforts to promote stability in the global financial system.
Issues deliberated upon at the meeting included the risks posed by Central Counterparties (clearing systems), market conduct, cyber resilience and audit quality.
Members discussed next steps following the just concluded work on cross border regulation and endorsed proposed work to provide further guidance to financial benchmark administrators on crowd funding.
Specifically, the Malaysian and Ontario Securities Commissions undertook to come up with workable guidelines on crowd funding which are expected to assist other members in developing the necessary regulatory framework for this new but fast growing industry, the statement noted.
Earlier in the year, SEC Nigeria had commenced the development of a regulatory framework for crowd funding through its Rules Committee. The expected frameworks from Malaysia and Ontario will give SEC Nigeria a good basis to assess the robustness of its own framework.
Indeed, the Nigerian capital market eagerly awaits the full take off of crowd funding as its introduction will further deepen the markets in alignment with the aspirations to expand product offerings and boost financial inclusion as contained in the 10 year capital market Master Plan.
Other issues discussed include corporate governance and international integrated reporting, the statement said. In addition to approving work done on the risks posed by the asset management industry and the resolve to publish a report on liquidity risk management in collective investment schemes, the meeting also considered the need to give fillip to the growth of SMEs across global markets among others.