SEC, approved the Nigerian Stock Exchange’s, listing rules

The Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, weekend, approved the Nigerian Stock Exchange’s, NSE, revised listing rules which seek to grant certain waivers for oil and gas firms, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises, SMEs, and other multinational companies.

In the new rules, mineral companies, comprising mining, oil and gas companies are exempted from fulfilling the requirements that a company seeking listing on the Mainboard must be in operation for at least three years.

The rule is also exempting companies with market capitalisation in excess of N500 billion from meeting the requirements for public float, which stipulates that the public shall hold a minimum of 20 per cent of each class of equity securities of the company. The revised listing rules, according to Mr. Oscar Onyema, Chief Executive Officer of the NSE, is borne out of the inflexibility in the former rules, which has helped in no small measure in serving as a major discouragement to listing.