ICMR Launched to Assist Investors

By FABIAN ANAWO,
Monday, October 3, 2005.

THE Institute of Capital Market Registrars (ICMR), which would relieve investors of the stress they go through when investing in the capital market has been officially launched.

At the launch in Lagos last week, the President of the institute, Mrs. Lola Oyebadejo appealed to the National Assembly (NASS) to quicken the passage of the ICMR Bill before it. The bill is expected to institute a chartered status.

Also, the insitute wants the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to increase the percentage commission that comes to it on new issues that come to the market. The institute said the professional fees of registrars is so small that it needed increment.
Mrs. Oyebadejo acknowledged that though the ICMR is not a member of the Stock Exchange, it handles the most difficult part of all transactions that go through the floor of the Exchange and suffers most when there are irregularities. It, therefore, appealed to SEC to approve that a percentage of all transactions that go through to the registrars.

ICMR also wants SEC and the exchange to adequately sensitize the investing public and quoted companies on the unique advantage of e-bonus.

The Registrar of the institute, David Walker Ogogo, listed the objectives of the institute to include the regulation and control of the practice of share registration, organize and conduct professional examinations in share registration, regularly organizing evening and weekend classes for students preparing for the institute’s exams’ organize lectures, seminars and conference on share registration and related fields and to publish an in-house journal and professional share registration textbooks. He said the institute’s professional examinations consist of four levels, pre-foundation, foundation, professional I and professional II.