The Investment and Securities Tribunal (IST) has introduced a protection safety net called the Investors Protection Fund (IPF) to protect investors' interest in the capital market. IST's Chairman, Dr. Nnena Orji, said this when she received members of the Ibadan Zone of the Shareholders' Association in her office yesterday.

Details of the Fund are still not clear but the IST boss said the frame-work for the IPF was formed through recent pronouncements of the tribunal. She said: "More importantly, we have developed the necessary case laws which broadly define the ways and means of doing business in the capital market. Through these processes, we are making sure that our capital market is on the path of orderly evolution."

"May I also put on record that at the tribunal, we have strived to serve the best interest of investors by working to enthrone the rule of law in the operations of the Capital Market. The tribunal has in its rulings and decisions, consistently made it clear that investor protection was paramount to the operations and regulation of the market". Orji said the current turmoil in the market is a normal pattern in capital markets all over the world. "It is usual for investors to experience some lull in the market from time to time depending on world economic cycles. "That is why we have the Bear and the Bull runs in the market. Everyday, they say, is not Christmas," she said.

She commended the shareholders, stressing that as important stakeholders in the market, their contributions were necessary for the growth of the market.