Economy
SEC Wants 2.5% of Fees Collected by NSE, FMDQ, NASD, CSCS, Others
By Dipo Olowookere
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the apex regulatory agency in the Nigerian capital market, is proposing to take 2.5 percent of fees collected by the securities exchanges under its control so as to get more funds to carry out its statutory duties.
These securities exchanges and clearing houses include the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), FMDQ Securities Exchange Plc, which does clearing and depository functions; NASD OTC Securities Exchange and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS).
The commission, in a notice justifying this move, explained that, “In order for the commission to continue to effectively carry out its core mandate, which is increasingly becoming more expensive due to the expansion of the market in terms of size, complexity and product offerings, it is imperative that the commission charges annual fees on Exchanges and FMIs.”
It further said it “expends huge resources in the course of regulating these entities, ranging from costs of target and periodic inspections/investigations, review and approval of requests for rules making/amendments, etc,” pointing out that, “Currently, Exchanges and other FMIs do not pay renewal fees.”
Business Post reports that in order to achive its goal, SEC, in the amendment titled Proposed amendment to Schedule I (Registration Fees, Minimum Capital Requirements, Securities and others), which seeks to create a new “Part E” to provide for annual regulatory charges to be paid by Securities Exchanges and FMIs, it wants a registered securities exchange to “pay to the commission, within thirty days of end of each financial year, an amount equal to 2.5 percent of the aggregate listing fees paid to it by issuers whose securities are listed or admitted on it, during that year.”
It further proposes that, “A depository shall pay to the commission, within thirty days of end of each year an amount equal to 2.5 percent of the aggregate annual depository fees paid to it by the issuers whose securities are deposited with it.”
Also, SEC further proposes that, “A registered clearing house or central counterparty clearing house shall pay to the commission, within thirty days of end of each financial year, an amount equal to 2.5 percent of the aggregate clearing fees charged by it for clearing functions, [while] other FMIs shall be required to pay annual fees to the commission as may be determined from time to time.”
Business Post reports further that SEC is proposed an amendment to Rule 199(3), which guides removal of a company trading its shares on any of the exchanges from the different trading platforms..
The existing rule states that, “The issuer of a security listed on an exchange may file an application to withdraw the security from listing on any exchange in accordance with the rules of that exchange and notify the commission accordingly. The exchange shall within ten (10) days consider and dispose of the application and notify the commission when such application is approved.”
In the proposed amendment, SEC wants this changed to, “The issuer of a security listed on an exchange may file an application to withdraw the security from listing on any exchange in accordance with the rules of that exchange. The Issuer shall give prior notice of such an application to the commission and notify the commission accordingly. The exchange shall within ten (10) days consider and dispose of the application and notify the Commission when such application is approved.”
Explaining the reason for this change, the agency said, “Rule 199 (1) requests an exchange to notify the commission seven (7) days prior to delisting an issuer when the initiative to delist is from the exchange itself. Thus similarly when such initiative is from the issuer, it is proposed for the concerned Exchange to similarly notify the commission before delisting the issuer.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed flat on Wednesday, August 5, as the market witnessed weaker trading activity with only two deals executed.
In the midweek session, the volume of securities exchanged by investors dropped 99.9 per cent to 802 units from the 1.6 million units recorded on Tuesday. The value of securities further decreased by 99.6 per cent to N208,240 from the preceding session’s N47.6 million, and the number of deals significantly went down by 93.9 per cent to two deals from the 33 deals recorded a day earlier.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc with 76.9 million units transacted for N5.5 billion.
GNI Plc was also the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million.
There were no price gainers or losers yesterday.
As a result, the market capitalisation stood unmoving at N2.739 trillion, while the NASD Security Index (NSI) remained unchanged at 4,563.96 points.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira slid against the US Dollar by N2.28 or 0.17 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Wednesday, August 5, to N1,363.85/$1 from N1,362.55/$1.
The local currency also declined against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N5.97 to close at N1,837.38/£1 compared with Tuesday’s closing rate of N1,831.41/£1, and against the Euro, it crashed by N6.54 to quote at N1,575.25/€1 versus the preceding session’s N1,568.71/€1.
But at the black market, the Nigerian Naira traded flat against the greenback yesterday at N1,400/$1, and also remained unchanged at the GTBank FX desk at N1,373/$1.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says rates have narrowed to below two per cent, while the country’s external reserves have risen above $52.5 billion, reflecting the impact of its ongoing monetary and foreign exchange reforms.
CBN Governor Yemi Cardoso, represented by the Acting Director of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations, Mrs Hakama Sidi-Ali, disclosed this on Tuesday during the CBN Fair in Gombe. He noted that reforms introduced since 2023 had significantly reduced the disparity between the official FX market and the parallel market.
“The Naira continues to strengthen, with the spread between official and Bureau de Change rates now below two per cent,” he said, adding that reserves at $52.5 billion were supported by sustained inflows and renewed investor confidence in the economy.
Interbank FX transactions slid as weaker market activities dropped total Dollar volume exchanged to $75.35 million, a 51.8 per cent decline from $156.23 million in turnover quoted at the previous close.
The deals at the NFEM window also fell as data from the central bank put Wednesday’s quote at 82 from 139.
In the cryptocurrency market, major were down as global risk sentiment softened as a key world equity index slipped and chipmakers fell.
The MSCI All Country World Index snapped a five-day run to fall 0.2 per cent as chipmakers retreated on both sides of the Pacific. South Korea’s Kospi, a bellwether for the AI trade, dropped 4.4 per cent.
Ripple (XRP) depleted by 1.7 per cent to $1.05, Binance Coin (BNB) decreased by 1.0 per cent to $594.87, Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 0.9 per cent to $0.1884, TRON (TRX) shrank by 0.2 per cent to $0.3261, Solana (SOL) crumbled by 0.1 per cent to $74.00, and Dogecoin (DOGE) went down by 0.1 per cent to $0.0697.
On the flip side, Ethereum (ETH) gained 2.3 per cent to trade at $1,911.41, and Bitcoin (BTC) rose by 0.8 per cent to $64,759.28, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
By Dipo Olowookere
The domestic stock exchange rebounded by 0.05 per cent on Wednesday on the back of renewed bargain-hunting by investors, though the level of activity waned.
After bleeding for a few days, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited heaved a sigh of relief yesterday, as the All-Share Index (ASI) gained 109.41 points to close at 244,912.24 points compared with the previous day’s 244,802.83 points, and the market capitalisation garnered N71 billion to settle at N158.087 trillion versus Tuesday’s N158.016 trillion.
Business Post reports that despite the rebound recorded by Customs Street at midweek, the market breadth index remained negative, as there were 20 price advancers and 29 price decliners, implying bearish investor sentiment.
Linkage Assurance appreciated by 9.94 per cent to N1.77, AVA Capital rose by 9.55 per cent to N10.90, Fortis Global Insurance advanced by 7.69 per cent to N2.80, McNichols gained 7.34 per cent to finish at N5.85, and Coronation Insurance surged by 5.51 per cent to N2.49.
Conversely, Honeywell Flour depreciated by 9.94 per cent to N16.30, PZ Cussons gave up 9.94 per cent to trade at N74.75, Zichis crashed by 9.74 per cent to N20.76, Learn Africa slipped by 9.62 per cent to N9.40, and Neimeth tumbled by 8.33 per cent to N8.25.
The busiest equity was FCMB, with a turnover of 369.2 million units valued at N4.1 billion. Chams transacted 46.7 million units worth N201.8 million, First Holdco transacted 43.5 million units for N5.7 billion, Access Holdings sold 29.8 million units worth N778.0 million, and Linkage Assurance exchanged 19.6 million units valued at N33.5 million.
At the close of transactions, market participants bought and sold 824.1 million units worth N25.5 billion in 48,114 deals, in contrast to the 1.6 billion units sold for N28.7 billion in 54,160 deals a day earlier, showing a shortfall in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 48.49 per cent, 11.15 per cent, and 11.16 per cent, respectively.
