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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the National Anti-Terrorism Centre have sealed a deal to prevent financing of illicit activities through the capital markets.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is also meant to ensure that only credible investors invest in the capital markets as a way of preventing funding illicit financial activities such as terrorism.
SEC’s Chief Executive Officer, Phillip Chitalu, says he is aware that capital markets could be used for all manner of things, including funding illicit activities such as terrorism.
Chitalu at the signing ceremony of the MoU in Lusaka on Tuesday noted that the mutual collaboration would ensure that only credible investors got to operate within the financial services sector, more so in capital markets.
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“Capital markets can be used for all manner of things, somebody can use it to bring in money, buy a few shares, sell them off in the next few months to finance something that is undesirable to the nation.
“If you are not very exposed to capital markets, you could wonder how someone can use shares to finance illicit activities, but shares are a financial instrument, just like cash especially in an environment where the trading is highly liquid,” he said.
Chitalu is, therefore, optimistic that the collaboration with National Anti-Terrorism Centre would assist in maintaining the integrity of the capital markets by ensuring that only credible investors played in the sector.
“We are excited that the National Anti-Terrorism Centre is with us to sign the MoU and we get to collaborate and serve the interest of the nation within our various mandates,” he said.
On the part of the National Anti-Terrorism Centre, its Director and Chief Executive Officer, Joseph Kamuuma, noted that capital markets were one of the areas where sponsors of terrorism used as funders took advantage of stable environment such as Zambia.
Kamuuma said: “Terrorism itself is a transnational threat. This will accord us an opportunity to ensure that the institution upscales its capacity to ensure that it fights terrorism.
“Through this MoU, we are trying to ensure that we come with a homegrown strategy of ensuring that only credible investors invest in our capital markets and any sectors of the economy.”
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