Effective internal controls to boost investors’ confidence – SEC

Effective internal controls over financial reporting have been described as necessary to help ensure that companies provide investors with accurate financial statements, which will in turn boost investor protection and confidence.

This was stated by the Executive Commissioner Legal and Enforcement of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr. Reginald Karawusa during a training on Internal Controls over Financial Reporting, an implementation of Section -60-63 of the Investment and Securities Act 2007, organised by the SEC in collaboration with the Nigeria Capital Market Institute in Lagos.

Karawusa stated that with the plethora of Ponzi schemes plaguing the nation, accurate financial statements are essential for the vitality of financial markets and by extension the economy.

The Executive Commissioner said, “Once investors no longer have confidence in the accuracy and completeness of companies’ financial statements and other disclosures, they will naturally be unwilling to invest, and the financial markets will certainly suffer as is currently experiencing in our country.”

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In his remarks, Managing Director of NCMI, Dr Emomotimi Agama said that the starting point to evaluate the sufficiency of an ICFR programme should be with a financial statement risk assessment.

Agama said Management’s focus on ICFR should start with determining whether the company’s risk assessment process is sufficient to identify and assess the risks to reliable financial reporting, including changes in those risks.