Investors’ Protection Funds appoints new chairperson

By Chioma Obinagwam

The Board of Trustees of the Investors’ Protection Fund(IPF) of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has appointed Mr. Lawrence Anga as the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees following the sad demise of its previous Chairperson, Mr. Gamaliel Onosode, OFR.

“The Board will continue to remember Mr. Onosode for his exceptional leadership, invaluable contribution, wealth of knowledge and excellent service to the IPF,” the said.

Mr. Lawrence Anga, a partner at AELEX, a leading commercial and litigation law firm, joined the IPF Board of Trustees in September 2012. He has a strong multi-disciplinary background in law, economics, management and fiscal policy and is qualified to practice law in Nigeria, England and Wales and in Ghana.

Mr. Anga was a contributor to the chapter on Nigeria for the Harvard Securities Project and Chairman of the CBN SMIES policy guidelines review committee. He is a past Chairman of the Capital Market Solicitors Association and a member of various ad-hoc committees established by the Ministry of Finance and the Securities and Exchange Commission. He was a past member of the Presidential Policy Advisory Committee where he was a member of the sub-committee on finance and investment. He appears as counsel before all superior courts of record in Nigeria and Ghana and has acted as a party appointed Arbitrator on several arbitration panels. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Taxation.

Commenting on the appointment of Mr Anga, Chief Executive Officer of the NSE, Oscar Onyema said “I very much look forward to continuing the excellent working relationship between the new Chairperson and other Trustees of the IPF Board with the Exchange in our collective quest to promote strong corporate governance in our market whilst stepping up to compensate investors in our market when the need arises. I am strongly convinced that having been part of the development of the IPF and its compensation framework, the Chairperson will be able to provide quality leadership and steer towards the realisation of the Fund’s objectives to the delight of investors who continue to repose confidence in the capital market despite the challenging times”.

Accepting the appointment, Mr Anga said “I am honoured to have been asked to take this role, and excited about the possibilities that lie in future for the capital markets in Nigeria. Having crossed the hurdle of paying first set of claimants under the Fund, we now have learning to rely on in the speedy but thorough examination of claims to compensate investors for pecuniary losses suffered by them as a result of wrong doing by certain dealing member firms of The Exchange. The Board will continue to do its best to move the Fund forward.

The IPF is a statutory fund established by The Nigerian Stock Exchange pursuant to Section 197 of the Investment and Securities Act to compensate investors who suffer pecuniary loss arising from the revocation or cancellation of the registration of a dealing member firm by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); the insolvency, bankruptcy or negligence of a dealing member firm of The Exchange as well as the defalcation committed by a dealing member firm or any of its directors, officers, employees or representatives in relation to securities, money or any property entrusted to, or received or deemed received by the dealing member firm in the course of its business as a dealing member firm.

Following a robust verification of claims, the IPF has paid out about N24 million in settlement of 103 claims. The IPF will continue to settle claims in a timely manner and in accordance with its laid down rules (approved by the SEC) once verification is concluded.