Veritable Protector of Investors!

The Financial Markets Commission has regularly been calling to order unruly actors in the money market.

Gone are the days when actors of the money market took the National Financial Markets Commission for a smokescreen. In recent weeks, the regulator has been hitting hard, meting sanctions from one unruly behaviour to the other.

Barely weeks ago, the regulator made a muscular media outing to denounce what it termed the irregular behaviour of BGFI Holding to raise FCFA 80 billion in its territory. In a communiqué denouncing the behaviour, the president of CMF, Chief Théodore Ejangue, made mention of law n°99/015 of December 22, 1999 creating and organising the functioning of the National Financial Markets Commission. The law regulates public and private transferable securities within the framework of a regulated investment market. By it, CMF has to investigate and sanction irregular behaviours so as to cleanse the money market of unorthodox behaviour.

Prior to the recent outing, CMF was also in the news in August 2013 with varied sanctions on the Douala Stock Exchange Market and other banks notably on the 2010 mandatory borrowing through which the State raised FCFA 200 billion for its giant development projects. UBA, BICEC, Banque Atlantique, SGBC, Afriland First Bank, Citibank, BMCE Capital and SCB Cameroun came under firing for not playing by the rules of the game.

In most, if not all of these outings, the regulator decries the non-respect of laid down rules either by countries or institutions raising funds through the money market or even contributors to the funds.

Safeguarding Investors

Besides denouncing the irregular behaviours which if not checked could weaken the powers of CMF and compromise the very reason of its existence, Chief Théodore Ejangue has been calling on national investors to be vigilant and guard against people who come to raise money in the country without the prior authorisation of CMF. The regular outings are opening the eyes of many and safeguarding investors from dishing out their money into doubtful operations wherein arbitration in case of hitches could be troublesome.

The recent decisions in line with the texts laying down the functioning of CMF also reaffirm the country as a State of law where the money market could not be an exception. Its existence for debt securities, encompassing the trading and issuance of short-term non-equity debt instruments including treasury bills, commercial papers, bankers acceptance, certificates of deposits, etc, experts say, are good for the development of the country and sub-region but must not go against the rules of the game and land.