The Federal Ministry of Finance is to strengthen the regulation and surveillance capacity of the capital market, with a view to meeting international standards, a source at the ministry told our correspondent on the telephone on Friday.

He said the overhaul became necessary given the volume of foreign investments flowing into the capital market. Banks, such as Intercontinental Bank Plc. Zenith Bank Plc, First Monument Bank Plc and United Bank for Africa Plc have attracted significant capital from foreign investors through the market. Besides, the recently closed N100bn offer by First Bank of Nigeria Plc was said to have attracted significant foreign interests. “Given the fact that the capital market is one of the four pillars on which the nation’s economy rests, undermining its operations could have negative impact on the entire economy,” the source said.

Other sources also added that apart from strengthening the operations of SEC, the finance ministry would also raise the capacity of the National Insurance Commission. One of the sources said, “Already the Minister of State for Finance, Mr. Remi Babalola, has held meetings with the Director-General, SEC, Mr. Musa Al-Faki and Mr. Fola Daniel of NAICOM in this regard.

“What the ministry is doing is to fine-tune the regulation and supervision of the capital market to the level of international standard. We may get assistance from the international community on that. We will also restructure the insurance industry because it is currently weak.”