Access Bank Vows to Maintain Top Spot on FMDQ OTC

By Dipo Olowookere

Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Access Bank Plc, Mr Herbert Wigwe, has said the bank would maintain its number one position on activity chart of FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange.

Access Bank has remained number one on the activity chart, accounting for the highest value of securities trading on the platform.

It led the top 10 banks to trade N121.59 trillion on the FMDQ OTC in 2016, a value that represented 71 per cent of the overall turnover in the market.

Speaking at the FMDQ OTC office penultimate Thursday at the ceremony to list Access Bank’s N35 billion commercial paper (CP), Mr Wigwe said the bank would deplore needed resources to maintain its leadership position.

According to him, the successful raising of N35 billion under the bank’s N100 billion CP programme is one of the strategies to remain an international financial group.

He had noted that the high level of confidence investors reposed on the bank led to the successfully raising of the N35 billion from the market.

“Access Bank was able to raise N35 billion from the money market, the largest listed commercial paper issuance ever in Nigeria despite the current economic headwinds and prevailing tight liquidity situation in the country. This indicates the high level of investor confidence in Access Bank. This issue will allow us create a liquidity buffer as we align our liquidity management to international best practice based on our internal Liquidity Adequacy Assessment Process (ILAAP).This is particularly important given  the prevailing macro environment and its impact on industry liquidity,” he said.

Also speaking at the ceremony, Vice President & Divisional Head, Marketing & Business Development of  FMDQ, Ms. Tumi Sekoni,   congratulated  Access Bank Plc on successfully raising  of N35 billion from the market at relatively competitive rates. She also lauded the contribution the bank was making to the development of the Nigerian markets, highlighting that the positive impact a quotation of this sort would have on the market was not to be underestimated.

Following the signing of the FMDQ CP Quotations Register and the presentation of the FMDQ CP Quotations Certificate to the issuer, Mr Abubakar Jimoh of Coronation Merchant Bank Limited, said: “There is strong investors’ perception towards corporates with strong fundamentals and a good track record like Access Bank. This issue further demonstrates Access Bank’s commitment to continuously explore innovative financing options and consistently drive value growth for its stakeholders”.

Also speaking at the ceremony, Mr Ayo Fashina, of Chapel Hill Denham, said: “This largest ever CP  Issuance in Nigeria’s money markets, provides further credence to Access Bank’s long-standing reputation as a top-grade issuer. We remain grateful to the domestic institutional investors – especially the Nigerian pension fund administrators – for their overwhelming support, and to the FMDQ-OTC management and team, who have worked with us to ensure a timely completion and quotation of this CP issuance”.