Securities and Exchange Commission( SEC), on Tuesday 15th October 2021 engaged members of the Criminal Investigation Department(CID) and the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) at the labadi beach hotel through its market education programme.
The initiative dubbed”Time with the SEC” forms part of the SEC’s strategic thrust of educating strategic partners including law enforcement agencies on critical issues regarding the Ghanaian capital market.
The programme was held under the theme,The role of the SEC in the capital market” and included presentation on topics such as the need for partnership with law enforcement agencies;the mandate and regulatory framework of the SEC:an overview of the capital market;the regulatory framework,tools,and enforcement powers of the SEC; and understanding the activities of Ponzi schemes.
Rev. Daniel Ogbarmey Tetteh Director General of SEC, speaking at the event said the need for SEC and law enforcement agencies to work together to ensure investor protection by deepening existing partnership and improving current practices.
The Director General highlighted some of the recent initiatives that SEC had undertaken to protect the integrity of the market and investors including the introduction of key Guidelines such as the conduct of business guidelines,investment guidelines for fund managers and licencing guidelines.
In addition,he cited the SEC digitisation programme which would facilitate electronic submission of returns by market operators and expedite prompt analysis to support supervision.
He further indicated that access by investors to relevant information would be enhanced beyond the current colour -coding scheme on the SEC website with the plan to establish a financial data centre,which would be a repository of comprehensive investment information to enable all investors to better inform their investment choices.
A Deputy Director General of the Criminal Investigation Department ACP Frederick Kwadwo stated that the primary duty of the CID was to investigate crimes and to accomplish this, the agency needed to build the capacity of its investigators.
He welcomed the opportunity for such an engagement and expressed optimism that via the platform, SEC would also better appreciate the work and mandate of the CID.
A Deputy Executive Director in-charge of Monitoring and Intelligence at the Economic and Organised Crime Office Madam Aba Jacqueline Opoku, said the role and importance of working capital in a developing economy.
She said countries such as Malaysia and Singapore had used the capital market to develop their nations exponentially.
She emphasised that a viable capital depends on effective law enforcement agencies and highlighted the role of EOCO in detecting and preventing economic crimes and taking actions against such criminal activities in collaboration with other stakeholders.
Madam Opoku Jacqueline mentioned the existing relationships of EOCO and SEC through the recent Asset Management Clan Up exercise and further said her establishment would work together with the SEC to boost the confidence of the general public……….Bugbila Moadow.
