Rev. Daniel Ogbarmey Tetteh, Director-General, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has stated that unprofessional practices of capital market operators have dire consequences on the Ghanaian economy.

According to Rev. Tetteh, concerns about this issue should not only be talked about, but a right signal should be sent to the market operators that their behaviour are important, hence, the need for them to religiously adhere to their responsibility.

“If we take our minds to the recent clean up that has taken place in the financial sector, it is clear that unprofessional, fraudulent and incompetent behaviour on the part of market operators can be expensive.
“We [SEC] believe that it is time to send the right signals that, that [unprofessional] behaviour can, and will be punishable, because we need to elicit more confidence in the industry and that is why the session with the law enforcement agencies is critical.”
Rev. Daniel Ogbarmey Tetteh

SEC’s Director-General made this statement while speaking at the event dubbed, “Time With the SEC” for officers of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) and the Criminal Investigations Department (CID).

The SEC acting within its mandate of protecting investors and the integrity of the securities market, organised the training programme for these security officers.

Also, Rev. Tetteh, iterated that, government has paid in claims a significant amount of 4.3 billion in the bailout, and that is only one half away.

He further stated that, it is an expensive issue when people do not listen to signals of caution either because they are greedy, incomplete or they are just not at the right place.

Invest to grow the economy

The Director-General disclosed that for Ghana’s economy to grow and develop, the abilities of individuals and households to save and invest is paramount.

Also, he stated that capital raised from saving and investment is used to drive economic activities within the Ghanaian economy.

SEC’s Boss, said, for instance, statistics from the Ghana Stock Exchange indicates that the local investors have about 32 per cent, while foreign investors have about 68 per cent in terms of share of value of investment on the Ghana Stock Exchange.

Touching on investment and savings lapses in the Ghanaian economy, Rev. Tetteh referenced the results from recently organized population and housing census, as a clear depiction of a significant number of individuals and households neither investing nor saving.

“If you come to our [SEC] area and look at the collective investment schemes that is the mutual plans and unitrust, again you find that the number of people who have subscribed is under a million.”
Rev. Daniel Ogbarmey Tetteh

On her part, Mrs. Deborah Mawuse Agyemfra, Deputy Director-General, Legal, SEC, revealed that the revocation exercise was very extensive.

Speaking of licensing market operators, she stated that entry point to the Capital market was key, when considering applications from Directors of Companies, who wanted to be licensed.

Also, due diligence, Mrs. Agyemfra disclosed, was made on Directors, where the CID conducted background investigations on them, if SEC was satisfied with the investigations, license was given, and the supervisory role commenced. But more investigations could be done going forward.

In the meantime, Mrs. Deborah Mawuse Agyemfra hinted that, achievements by the SEC with regards to its regulatory mandate of the capital market could not have been realised without the needed support from the Securities Agencies.