The Director-General, Securities and Exchange Commission, Ms. Arunma Oteh, says the 2008 financial crisis helped in creating the environment for the tough reforms in the capital market under her watch.

Oteh said this in an interview she granted FORBESWOMENAFRICA, which was posted on the commission’s website.

In the interview, which was published in the June/July edition of the magazine, the SEC DG said, “Having that crisis helped, because people had seen what could go wrong. The environment to support a tough reform agenda was present as they could see the importance of a regulator that would do its job.”

Oteh, who talked about her career and experience at Harvard Business School in the interview, stressed the importance of setting a global agenda for the commission and how integrity was vital to developing the market.

She said, “When I joined, the vision was for the SEC to be the best regulator in Africa and I said, ‘best regulator in Africa?’ That’s not ambitious enough. Our aim should be to be the best regulator in the world.

“Nobody invests in a particular market because they love it. They are more interested in the safety and security of their funds. In that case, it is important to build a market that can stand globally acclaimed. This isn’t possible without integrity.”

In carrying out the reforms, she told FW that the first thing was to investigate operators and companies for market abuse.

“That led us to alleging that 260 individuals and entities had carried out different forms of market abuse,” she was quoted as saying.

The second thing, she explained, was to focus on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

Oteh said, “Nigeria had one operational exchange and being a visible symbol of our market, it was very important to ensure that we address the challenges of the Exchange because then, we develop the industry of fund and asset managers and develop the fixed income bond market to the point where it became easier for people to borrow.”

The SEC DG also talked about other key initiatives that have aided market development such as the launch of a naira bond by the International Finance Corporation and the inauguration of two over-the-counter platforms – NASD OTC and FMDQ OTC – to help bring the OTC markets under full regulation.

She said, “We have two platforms, the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD OTC), which targets unlisted securities so there is more efficient trading in those securities, and the platform sponsored by the Financial Market Dealers Association (FMDQ OTC), which does wholesale trading in Federal Government bonds. Also, introducing new instruments like Islamic finance products, and encouraging real estate investment trusts.”

Operators and analysts have said over time that the reforms in the market are significant in boosting investor confidence and turning the capital market around post the crises, enabling the market to emerge as one of the best performing markets in 2012 and 2013.

And Oteh believes that the steps taken to develop the market have not been matched by other regulators.

“There are no countries that have taken the bold steps we have in the financial sector in the last few years,” she said.