Barring any last minute hitches, the Ministry of Finance will this week announce a new board for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), THISDAY's checks have revealed.

The commission's board was dissolved on June 15 and capital market operators have since called on the Federal Government to constitute a new board.

Following the clamour, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance and, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, recently told THISDAY that the board was being reconstituted.

Sources close to the ministry and SEC, which is the apex regulatory body for the capital market, said last Friday that the board would be ready this week.

"I think, the board will be ready next (this) week," a competent source said but refused to give details of its composition.

Part 1 of the Investments and Securities Act (ISA) 2007 stipulates that the SEC's board must consist of a part-time chairman; the director-general and chief executive; three full time commissioners; a representative of the Federal Ministry of Finance; a representative of the Central Bank of Nigeria; and two part-time commissioners, one of whom shall be a legal practitioner qualified to practice in Nigeria with 10 years, post-call experience.

According to ISA, the board members shall be appointed by the president upon recommendation of the Minister of Finance and confirmation by the Senate.

ISA provides that in the case of the chairman or DG of the commission, he is a holder of a university degree or its equivalent with not less than 15 years cognate experience in capital market operations, while other members must be holders of a university degree or its equivalent with not less than 12 years cognate experience in capital market operations or legal practice as the case may be.

While the director-general is allowed to hold office for a period of five years in the first instance and may be reappointed for a further period of five years and no more, the three full time commissioners hold office in the first instance for a period of four years and may be re-appointed for a further term of four years and no more.

Ms. Arunma Oteh, who is serving her third year as the DG, has been running the affairs of the commission since she was reinstated on July 18.

Senior stockbrokers and market operators have insisted that the new board of SEC should be made up of people who had market experience.

"We need a board that is constituted not based on political appointees. But a board that has people who are knowledgeable about the market.

"The government should bring people who understand the market and when such people work in harmony with the management of the commission, the impact of their decisions would be felt and seen in the market," a broker had said recently.