NAIROBI, Kenya Dec 17- Investors at the Nairobi Stock Exchange will now lodge their complaints and queries on shares and transactions at their convenience.
This follows the launch of the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) Complaints Handling Unit (CHU) SMS service on Thursday. This is an enhancement of the CHU website launched in August.
NSE Chief Executive Peter Mwangi said the new service will make the stock market more approachable for investors where they will be able to get information of how the bourse operates or even raise issues they may have.
Mr Mwangi believes it will serve as a vehicle for investor education through the CHU, follows the first phase launch of the CHU website in August, where the public and investors sent in complaints both locally and from abroad.
“Investor protection is premised on the need to have an educated investor base who understand the products traded at the bourse and the procedures governing transactions,” he said.
Complaints and queries are lodged by sending a message, via Safaricom and Zain, to 8485 at Sh10 per message.
Before the introduction of the CHU, investors had to shuttle between the NSE, the market regulator Capital Market Authority and Central Depository Settlement Corporation (CDSC) to raise concerns.
The new service is seen as an alternative to the web-based portal, bringing convenience to especially those in the rural areas without access to internet.
According to Mr Mwangi, 30 percent of the queries received refer to a request for general information on processes, with a further 14 percent relating to queries on dividend issues by shareholders.
He said through such initiatives, people would have start regaining confidence in the stock market as an investment vehicle.
Mr Mwangi believes it would clean up the bourse’s image that has seen the collapse of three brokers resulting in huge investor losses.
Since the introduction of CHU, 197 complaints have been received with 145 having been resolved with Mr Mwangi adding they were working expeditiously to resolve the remaining cases.
