SEC finally expels BGL, subsidiaries from capital market

There appears to be no end to the travails of Mr. Albert Okumagba, the Group Managing Director of BGL Group as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has suspended BGL and its subsidiaries from capital market activities.

In a statement, the Executive Management Committee of the Commission at its meeting held on Tuesday considered the report of a detailed investigation into the various complaints received from investors against subsidiaries of BGL Group.

Based on the submissions of the investigators, the SEC noted that “BGL Asset Management Limited, BGL Capital Limited and BGL Securities Limited be suspended from all Capital Market activities and that all Sponsored Individuals of BGL Asset Management Limited, BGL Capital Limited and BGL Securities Limited whose particulars are contained in the Commission’s record as at December 2014 be suspended from performing any Capital Market activity.”

The SEC also ordered that “Mr. Albert Okumagba, the Group Managing Director of BGL Group, should cease to be a registered Sponsored Individual with the Commission following the withdrawal of the registration of BGL Plc as a Capital Market Operator. He is therefore no longer entitled to carryout Capital Market activities.”

The statement added that “all suspicious transactions observed in the course of the investigation have been referred to the appropriate law enforcement agencies for further investigation; and that BGL Asset Management Limited, BGL Capital Limited and BGL Securities Limited and all individuals involved in the management of the said companies have been referred to the SEC Administrative Proceedings Committee (APC) which will give all parties to the cases a fair hearing.”

It would be recalled that Okumagba’s travails began last late month when the Commission suspended him along with other members of his board for perpetrating alleged monumental fraud running into billions of naira.

The Commission subsequently appointed an Interim Management Board headed by Oladipo Aina.

– Ali Smart

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