Accounts submission: Our duty is not to ascertain accuracy ''NSE

Following thequest to have listedcompanies submit their financials promptly for investment decision purposes, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has said that it is not within its official purview to ascertain the accuracy of the financial statement.The NSE, while reacting to the likelihood of quoted companies presenting doctored financials, due to the pressure on companies to submit their result as at when due or face sanction, noted that its function was to ensure that the companies submit their result within the stipulated time framework.The NSE's Chief of Staff, Mr. Bola Adeeko, who made these disclosures during an interview at the Capital Market Correspondent Association of Nigeria (CAMCAN) workshop recently, said: 'Our duty is not to ascertain the accuracy of the financial statements, that's why companies have auditors that look at that. From regulatory perspective, our rules require them to submit those audited statements and that's where it ends.It will be recalled that earlier this year, the NSE sanctioned about 60 companies for non-submission of their financial results to the council of the Exchange for verification within the time frame of the market.Speaking on the 400 firms which have indicated interest to list on the Exchange, Adeeko said: 'We certainly try to provide the environment where we get more companies to list versus delisting. We are not focusing on just one company; we are focusing on the different sectors. In my presentation, I talked about oil and gas being important; especially the upstream part for attracting more companies. The rules we are having in the book right now are not good for bringing companies like that to the market and we recognise that; so, if you go to our website, and this I certainly encourage you to do, we do have the draft rules on it that seeks to create more flexibility for companies, depending on where they are in terms of evolution, to come to the market.'What do I mean' oil and gas companies especially on the exploration side, generally would not qualify on our rules today; because it forces them to have proven profitability for up to five year. A lot of these companies are very capital intensive when they started off. Therefore, we created our different options under which they can qualify; so if it is not under profitability, they could qualify on the projected Market Capitalisation.Like I said earlier, if you want more details in terms of the specific changes we will be introducing shortly, I certainly encourage you to check those requirements online. But to summarise; you are absolutely right, the rules that exist today does not make it easy for companies to list. And so, our goal is to hit the Market Capitalisation of $1.0 trillion in five years and convert as many of the 400 prospect companies to get listed; it won't happen without making these changes', he added.
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