SECZ talks fairness, accountability and competence
THE Securities and Exchange Commission of Zimbabwe (SECZ) is a statutory, independent regulatory body of Zimbabwe’s capital markets, established in terms of the Securities and Exchange Act (Chapter 24:25) in 2008 by government through the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development.
e establishment of SECZ marked the end of self-regulation in the country’s capital market industry.
Regulation is necessary to ensure that markets operate in an orderly fashion, and to ensure that investors are protected against fraudulent activities of unscrupulous operators. It is also needed to maintain a sound and stable financial system.
Tafadzwa Chinamo, the CEO of SECZ, went on to say: “A regulator plays a key role in making sure that the sector expands, and that it does so in a way that is transparent, credible and inclusive. We need to make sure there are protections in place for all our stakeholders.”
SECZ has several key functions, including regulating trading and dealing in securities, and registering, supervising and regulating securities exchanges.
SECZ licences, supervises and regulates licenced persons. eir mandate is to encourage the development of free, fair and orderly capital and securities markets in Zimbabwe.
SECZ also advises the government of Zimbabwe on all matters relating to securities and capital markets, as well as promoting investor education.
e main objectives of SECZ are to protect investors and maintain fair, orderly and efficient markets.
It is every investor’s right to be protected against misleading, manipulative or fraudulent practices by Securities Market Intermediaries (SMI).
Investor protection is therefore mandatory and automatic once an investor participates on the capital markets.
SECZ has a combination of diverse but closely integrated measures in place to protect investors, boost investor confidence and preserve efficiency, integrity and transparency. Such measures include, but are not limited to, market surveillance, registration and licensing, and supervision of all SMIs.
e SECZ statutory objectives are to provide high levels of investor protection. Essentially this entails reducing systemic risk in the capital market, and promote market integrity and investor confidence.
SECZ set up policies and standards that help prevent market manipulation, fraud and financial crime.
As a regulatory body it is SECZ’s aim to ensure transparency in capital and securities markets.
SECZ believes in making investments accessible to all Zimbabweans with the growth of the capital markets in Zimbabwe, hence their push to promote investor education. e ultimate goal of making any investment is to get a return commensurate with the level of risk. It is important that the investor gets a rate of return on their investments that exceeds the rate of inflation and is able to meet desired investment objectives.
is article was written as part of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Zimbabwe’s Investor Education Campaign in partnership with the Investor Protection Fund (IPF). For more information contact: seczim@seczim.co.zw.