SEC ramps up public engagement efforts to re-instill market confidence

The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced it has enhanced its structures to include robust public engagement policies to continue to educate the public on its operations and investment opportunities in the Ghanaian market.

Speaking at a webinar organised by Tesah Capital, Deputy Director-General of SEC, Paul Ababio said the commission’s new approach aims to re-instill confidence in people who wish to invest in the market after the financial sector clean-up through its masterplan.

“The [commission’s] master plan has four main pillars. One is creating diversity of investment products and enhancing liquidity in securities markets; pillar two is to increase investor base that we aim to do through investor education, capacity building and engagement with the public like this platform; the third pillar is to strengthen infrastructure and improve market services; the fourth pillar is improving regulation, enforcement and market confidence,” Mr Ababio said.

The commission has also taken action to enforce regulations for the market including educating market operators and educating its own employees.

“If you have rules and you don’t enforce them, it can lead to a lack of confidence in the market and so some of the actions we have taken recently are to show that as a regulator we will enforce the laws and we will work with other law enforcement agencies to drive through some of the requirements that are in the law and in our guidelines,” he added.

Paul Ababio also stated that the commission will engage the public in local languages on its operations to ensure an understanding on investment and the commission’s operations reaches a wider audience as there is a need to educate everyone on how to invest cautiously.

“We are quite conscious of the language issue; so as a commission we actually engage with a communications specialist as part of our team which wasn’t the case before. We take [language barriers] very seriously as part of our mandate and you’ll be seeing some collateral from us in local languages.”

Tesah Capital’s Investment Dialogue was held to open a discussion on how to invest in the market after the financial sector clean-up which saw the revocation of the licenses of investment management and advisory firms, including 347 microfinance companies and 23 savings and loans companies.

Tesah Capital is an asset management company in Ghana, providing investment management and advisory services to pension trustees, financial and non-financial institutions, corporate organisations and individuals. We are your investment Gateway to Africa.

Tesah Capital is licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as an Investment Advisor and Fund Manager. We are also registered by the National Pensions and Regulatory Authority (NPRA) as a Pension Fund Manager.

Managing Director of Tesah Capital, Eugenia Basheer, said the Investment Dialogue series has been designed to disseminate knowledge about investment opportunities in Ghana and help the investing public make the right decisions based on appropriate information and research.

“At Tesah Capital we believe that the more knowledge people gain the more empowered they become to take the right decisions on their investments,” Mrs. Basheer said.

She urged Ghanaians to adopt the habit of investing to secure a better financial future for themselves and their dependents.

“Not investing means losing great potential income, it means missing the chance to probably acquire that house, that additional educational qualification, that secured retirement or the chance to leave a legacy of wealth for your generations,” she said.

She added: “Investments are the only proven way in which you can sit back and watch your money work for you. Investing has not lost its benefits. I want to urge and encourage you, that though you may have fallen heavily off that horse, get right back on it and start investing again, but this time, check the type of horse you choose and which stable it is from, check the bridle, check the saddle – meaning know what you want, understand the opportunities and risks on the market, and get the right advice from the right source. Whatever you do, do not stop investing and if you have never invested, do not fear to start now.”