Daniel Ogbarmey Tetteh, Director-General, Securities and Exchange Commission Ghana (SEC), has indicated that the Commission is making some regulatory changes that will strengthen the activity of the Securities and Exchange market.

The Director-General postulated that the primary aim of the current board is to expand the market to meet the need of participants. As such, he noted that the current board is working hard to achieve the various objectives of the Commission.

“Since the current board of the SEC was constituted, our focus has been to increase the level of capital market activity and, most importantly, fill the regulatory gaps. Without an effective framework in place, the private sector cannot be expected to perform optimally.”
Daniel Ogbarmey Tetteh

The Director-General noted that as part of the regulatory process, SEC released guidelines for comments from the market operators and other relevant stakeholders.

“This iterative process has helped us make great progress on several guidelines, including the Corporate Governance Code (CGC) for listed companies, the commodities exchange, private funds, the credit rating agency, and real estate investment trusts.”
Daniel Ogbarmey Tetteh

Rev. Daniel Ogbarmey Tetteh moreover, intimated that SEC is undertaking several educational programs to educate the general public and potential investors about the market.

“Another priority has been education. Together, the SEC, the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) and the Ghana Securities Industry Association have established the Ghana Investment and Securities Institute (GISI) to take over the running of securities courses currently being handled by the GSE. The GISI will restructure courses with the aim of deepening the capacity of the market operators to effectively serve their clients and extend product options with the introduction of new products to the market.”
Daniel Ogbarmey Tetteh

According to Rev. Daniel Ogbarmey Tetteh, the above initiatives and other ones on board will help the commission greatly. He thus, said, “We are also working on deepening the capacity here at the SEC by implementing training programmes, as well as strategic new hires so that the commission will be ahead of the curve”.

SEC Working to Strengthen License Requirements

The Director-General also disclosed that his outfit is looking to strengthen licensing requirements. This is because, he opined that in the past, licensing was fairly loose.

“…For example, it was possible to find an institution that failed to meet the requirement of a microfinance license from the BoG”.

“Additionally, there are new requisites for obtaining or maintaining a license. The changes are based on the liquidity, technology, and security requirements necessary to ensure a stable market. We are also streamlining the structure around fund managers, who have tended to promise returns on investment, a trend that must stop.”
Daniel Ogbarmey Tetteh

Rev. Daniel Ogbarmey Tetteh asserted that the Commission needs stronger operators, with the required human, financial and technological capacity to serve the market.

“Corporate governance is another core aspect of this, and we expect that the listed companies and our licensed market operators will work with the CGC and the Conduct of Business guidelines. The composition of boards, especially issues with independent directors and the effectiveness of board committees, among others, are areas in which we expect to see major improvement.”
Daniel Ogbarmey Tetteh