Oluropo Dada, the 13th president and chairman of Council, Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS) has described any unregistered investment in the Nigerian capital market as a Ponzi Scheme, designed to swindle unsuspecting investors.
Following the recent sudden collapse of digital investment platform, CBEX with reports indicating over N1.3 trillion loss to investors, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has renewed its campaign against Ponzi Scheme and the need for investors to desist from patronizing unregistered investment products and platforms.
Addressing securities dealers at the 30th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Institute in Lagos at the weekend, Dada advised the investing public to protect their hard-earned money by avoiding fraudulent investment schemes, particularly Ponzi Scheme that continue to defraud unsuspecting Nigerians.
“Any unregistered Investment Scheme is Ponzi. It is even more critical in light of the recent Ponzi scheme that swindled several Nigerians out of their hard-earned money. These schemes often disguise themselves as legitimate platforms offering fast, guaranteed returns but they are nothing more than financial traps.
“Avoid platforms that promise fast, guaranteed returns, these are classic scam tactics. Watch out for investment not registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). An unregistered investment scheme usually promises unrealistic returns with zero risk”, Dada said .
Reviewing the operations of the Institute for 2024, Dada noted that in order to attract youths into securities profession collaboration with tertiary institutions would continue .
According to him, the campaign on “Catch then Young” is already gaining traction and upon the completion of the ongoing review of the Institute’s Professional Diploma Programme in Securities and Investment. many youths with or without finance background would be able to make a career in the securities market.
“The Institute has continued to pursue strategic collaboration with tertiary institutions in order to boost the interest of younger ones in Securities and Investment profession. The ongoing collaboration agreements with some of the tertiary institutions in Nigeria to run Degree and Post Graduate Linkage Programmes will go a long way in promoting the onboarding of BSc, MBA, MSc and PhD degree programmes in Securities and Investment Studies,” he said.
“In furtherance to our ‘Catch them
Young’ campaign, the Institute intensified efforts to penetrate more campuses of higher institutions of learning to create more awareness about the Securities and investment profession among the
students of tertiary institutions.
A workable document is being developed to sustain the standard of the Institute’s professional diploma examination which has continued to attract lots of youths and non-finance professionals across the country. The diploma in Securities and Investment is a stepping stone towards the main professional examination. All examinations conducted in the year were very successful and incident-free” CIS president noted.
“The activities of CIS Academy have continued to receive wide acceptance within the Capital market space as evidenced by the number of participants recorded at our training programmes. Some of the trainings were conducted with the collaboration of other highly sought-after learning organisations.
” The relationship between Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (CISI), United Kingdom (UK) and CIS Academy was strengthened during the year. Our Academy has continued to run the earlier launched six (6) Certification Courses tailored toward the specific needs of capital market operators, industry experts, business executives etc”, he added.
During the year, the Institute successfully signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with University of Maiduguri Business School and renewed the MOU with the Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange (LCFE) for collaboration and strategic partnership. The Institute is also close to signing MOU with five (5) thriving institutions namely: Miva Open University, Olabisi Onabanjo University amongst others .
Stockbrokers commended the Institute’s Board and Management for navigating the tough operating climate to sustain operations and deepen awareness creation on the importance of the capital market to the growth and development of the economy.
