By BUUMBA CHIMBULU
AN agreement to prevent financing of illicit activities through the capital markets has been signed between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the National Anti-Terrorism Centre.
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Other areas of focus for the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is to ensure that only credible investors invest in the capital markets as a way of preventing funding illicit financial activities such as terrorism.
SEC’s Chief Executive Officer, Phillip Chitalu is aware that capital markets can be used for all manner of things, including funding illicit activities such as terrorism.
Mr Chitalu, at the signing ceremony of the MoU in Lusaka noted the mutual collaboration comes which will ensure that only credible investors get to operate within the financial services sector, more so into capital markets.
“Capital markets can be used for all manner of things, somebody can use it to bring in money, buy a few shares, and sell them off in the next few months to finance something that is undesirable to the nation.
“If you are not very exposed to capital markets, you could wonder how someone can use shares to finance illicit activities, but shares are a financial instrument, just like cash especially in an environment where the trading is highly liquid,” he said.
Mr Chitalu was, therefore, optimistic that the collaboration with National Anti-Terrorism Centre will assist in maintaining the integrity of the capital markets by ensuring that only credible investors played in the sector.
“We are excited that the National Anti-Terrorism Centre is with us to sign the MoU and we get to collaborate and serve the interest of the nation within our various mandates,” he said.
From the side of the National Anti-Terrorism Centre, its Director and Chief Executive Officer, Joseph Kamuuma, was of the view that capital markets are one of the areas where sponsors of terrorism used as funders take advantage of stable environment such as Zambia.
Mr Kamuuma said: “terrorism itself is a transnational threat. This will accord us an opportunity to ensure that the institutions upscales its capacity to ensure that it fights terrorism.
“Through this MoU, we are trying to ensure that we come with a homegrown strategy of ensuring that only credible investors invest in our capital markets and any sectors of the economy.”
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