Business
Mixed Reactions Trail Move To Regulate Conduct Of AGMs
Stock market operators last Monday, expressed mixed reactions to plans by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to regulate conduct of Annual General Meetings (AGMs) and pre-AGMs.
The operators spoke with The Tide source n Lagos.
The new sub-rule seeks to reduce the cost of organising shareholder meetings, by eliminating distribution of gifts to shareholders, observers and any other persons at annual and extraordinary general meetings.
The Publicity Secretary, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Mr Moses Igbrude, said that the reasons given by SEC for the rule were not strong.
Igbrude said that money spent on corporate gifts to shareholders could not be compared with amount spent on corporate social responsibilities, penalties and taxes, among others, by quoted companies.
He said that none of the shareholder groups had compelled any company to give corporate gifts or to hold pre-AGM meetings.
According to him, food and water given to shareholders at meetings cannot be quantified as corporate gifts.
“Yes, there are issues in crowd management and distribution of gifts or food to shareholders at AGMs, that doesn’t mean SEC has to criminalise giving of gifts or pre-AGMs.
“SEC should find better ways of addressing the issues rather than to punish shareholders and their companies,” he said.
The National Coordinator, Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Mr Boniface Okezie, said that the commission should not regulate conduct of meetings but could assist the companies where things could get out of hands.
Okezie said that the law permitted that the commission should attend AGMS as observers on invitation by quoted companies.
He said that SEC could not stop companies from conducting pre-AGMs organised for shareholders by the owners of the business so long they did not compromise.
Okezie said that the fora afforded shareholders opportunities to evaluate companies’ performances and activities in the past year.
On the ban on AGM gifts, the shareholder activist said that sharing of gifts at AGMs had created a lot of problems to many companies.
Okezie noted that some shareholders failed to conduct themselves in an orderly manner.
He, however, said that there was no need for fining companies for sharing gifts at AGMS, urging that SEC should be more concerned with critical issues in the market such unclaimed dividends and inability of companies to post annual reports to shareholders within 21 days.
“It does not call for fine of any sorts; unclaimed dividends are still there for the regulatory body to tackle as well as posting of annual reports to shareholders within 21 days, which many companies have failed to comply with,” Okezie said.
He said that sharing of companies’ products at separate meetings with shareholders should not be discouraged as long as there would be decorum.
The Chief Operating Officer, InvestData Ltd., Mr Ambrose Omordion, however, described the SEC move as good, saying that it would help companies to conserve funds to boost their operations.
“Entertainment at the meetings is good, but should not go as far as buying corporate gifts or giving cash to few shareholders to influence their comments at AGMs, leading to praise-singing even where the company dividend payout is low compared to share price,” Omordion said.
He said that some shareholders failed to set agenda to directors and management of their companies due to unnecessary gifts.
“Many companies have continued to post losses and investors are deprived of dividends,” Omordion stated.
He said that SEC should educate shareholders to know their rights and how to defend them to protect their investments.
NAN reports that SEC proposed a N10 million fine against any company which will flout the rule.
Cornerstone of Financial Services
A survey of more than 1 000 global finance leaders undertaken by digital payment network Ripple shows that 72% of respondents believe they need to offer a digital asset solution to remain competitive.
According to Ripple, leaders from the banking, fintech, corporate and asset management sector have made it clear that the “digital asset revolution is happening now”.
“Digital assets are quickly becoming a cornerstone of financial services, underpinned by progressive regulation, growing interest from Tier-1 banks, a steady consumer shift from banks to fintech providers, and booming stablecoin adoption,” Ripple says.
The survey was conducted in early 2026 and the findings released in March.
Stablecoin Boon or Bane?
Ripple has experienced significant success in the stablecoin sector since launching its Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin in 2024.
With a market cap of $1.56 billion, it is considered a major regulated player in the market.
No doubt the platform was pleased to learn through its own survey that financial leaders were most bullish about stablecoins.
Roughly three-quarters of respondents believed they could boost cash-flow efficiency and unlock trapped working capital.
Ripple noted that finance leaders were thinking about stablecoins as more than “just a new way to execute payments”; instead, they viewed them as effective tools for treasury management.
In March 2026, Ripple began testing a new trade finance model built around RLUSD in a bid to increase the speed of cross-border payments.
The pilot initiative, developed alongside supply chain finance company Unloq [https://unloq.com], is running on the XRP Ledger inside a testing framework developed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The Asian city-state is one of the platform’s biggest growth markets.
The idea behind the project is to see whether stablecoin-based settlement can streamline trade finance, too often hampered by reliance on intermediaries and slow reconciliation.
The only potential drawback is that if the initiative takes off, the Ripple to USD price could be negatively affected.
Ripple has always championed its native XRP token as a bridge asset, the “middleman” in the process of a financial institution turning dollars in the US into pounds in the UK, for example.
Ripple converts dollars into XRP and then back into pounds.
If RLUSD can do exactly the same thing, questions will be asked about XRP’s relevance.
That is a bridge Ripple will have to cross if it gets to that point.
Tokenisation Partners
Another interesting finding from Ripple’s survey is that most banks and asset managers are seeking tokenisation partners to help execute their strategies.
Some 89% of respondents said digital asset storage and custody were top priority. “Token servicing/lifecycle management also ranks highly for banks at 82%, while asset managers place greater emphasis on primary distribution at 80%,” Ripple found.
The survey also revealed that just more than half of fintechs and financial institutions want an infrastructure provider that can offer a “one-stop-shop solution”. This rose to 71% among corporate financial leaders.
Ripple attributes this to institutions and firms wanting uncomplicated, cohesive systems.
Infrastructure Rules
In its final analysis, Ripple says companies across the board are looking for partners and solutions that are “secure, compliant, battle-tested and that enable growth and execution”.
“The message is clear: infrastructure decisions made today will shape competitive positioning tomorrow.”
No surprise that this is precisely where Ripple is placing much of its focus.
