SECZ boss steps down

SECURITIES and Exchange Commission of Zimbabwe (SECZ) chief executive officer, Mr Tafadzwa Chinamo, says he is stepping down as a happy man after achieving his mission of bringing back investor confidence to the country's capital markets.

SECZ has announced that Mr Chinamo will be stepping down from his post this month after 10 years as chief executive officer.

In a recent interview, Mr Chinamo said boosting investor confidence and widening investor catchment was his main goal during his tenure at the SECZ.

He said this meant reconstructing the core market infrastructure to modern standards.

"Investing in the capital markets requires confidence and knowledge on the part of the investor and a sound regulatory environment," he said.

"Confidence was shattered during hyperinflation, and during my tenure l can be remembered for bringing back investor confidence through sound regulation, public awareness, modern trading systems and infrastructure to the Zimbabwean capital markets post 2008/9 hyper-inflation stand and that stands out for me," said Mr Chinamo.

Zimbabwe experienced hyperinflation in 2008 before the adoption of a multi-currency system in February 2009.

He said stimulating investor confidence and widening investor catchment was his main goal and this meant rebuilding the core market infrastructure to modern standards.

"I was driven by the belief that a well-functioning sector offering relevant products and services builds confidence and provides the foundation for stability and growth.

"Automating the market by moving away from paper driven manual systems to automated electronic platforms played a key role in the capital markets rebuilding programme," he said.

Part of the loss in confidence, Mr Chinamo said, was attributable to the chaotic record keeping by some market players, leading to failure to accurately account to their clients in a reasonable time.

"In many cases, dividends were not reaching investors, some trades had to be reversed due to tainted scrip and so on.

"As market regulator we directed the market to adopt modern infrastructure.

We worked with market players to establish a Central Securities Depository (CSD), which was soon followed by automated trading on the stock exchange," said Mr Chinamo.

"The CSD also made it easier for us to require that only licensed custodians be allowed to hold investors' assets (cash and securities)."

In the past, only large institutional investors generally used custodians.

"Small and individual investors generally had their stockbrokers and asset managers do so.

The result is literary zero fraud, timely and accurate reporting to investors and much improved record keeping," said Mr Chinamo.

SECZ is the country's regulatory authority set up in 2008 and operationalised in 2009 to oversee the smooth running and development of the capital and securities market.

Its mandate is to regulate the trading and dealing in securities, which involves registering, supervising, and licensing of exchanges and securities market intermediaries.

As he leaves SECZ, Mr Chinamo said: "The past decade has broadened my perception of the investments industry.

I see things in a way I could not have imagined had I remained an asset manager.

"My involvement with Sadc regulators… further widened my horizon. I have developed interest in financial education, regional integration and capital markets development, financial analysis, ecommerce, corporate finance, and many more.

"It is my intention to pursue all these or a combination in one form or other."