First Bank Pays Holders of $450m Bonds Due 2021

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of Coronation Merchant Bank (CMB) has been downgraded by Fitch Ratings to ‘CC’ from ‘B-‘, with its Viability Rating (VR) also lowered to ‘cc’ from ‘b-‘. In a note released on Monday, the rating agency said it also demoted the bank’s National Long-Term Rating to ‘B+(nga)’ from ‘BBB-(nga)’, raising some red flags that prompted its latest decision. According to Fitch, CMB was moved down in the pecking order due to a “significantly weakened capital position”, which if not quickly addressed, “could lead to a material capital shortfall.” Already, the financial institution

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A global provider of audit and certification services, MSECB, has issued a certification to Access Bank Plc for its Anti-Bribery Management System. The certification was issued to the Nigerian lender after implementing effective measures and fostering a culture of integrity within its system and operations. With this certification, Access Bank aims to provide its customers with the highest level of confidence in the bank’s unwavering integrity, assuring them of its zero-tolerance policy for bribery and ethical misconduct, thus fostering a positive relationship, and building trust and credibility among its stakeholders, including customers, partners, and investors. The bank

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Head of Partnerships at Stanbic IBTC Bank Limited, Ms Omolara Osunsoko, has posited that any economy that intends to flourish must do everything possible to support business owners, especially those in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) sector. The banker said this at a webinar organised to inform participants of a seamless payment experience for business owners through the enhanced Enterprise Online (EOL) payment platform. At the event themed Simplifying Payments for Businesses, the company unveiled EOL 2.0, an upgraded solution created to facilitate a smooth payment experience and improve human resources (HR) services for business

By Adedapo Adesanya Nigerian bank, Union Bank, alongside energy company, Riverside LNG of Nigeria, have signed different agreements that involve a $500 million renewable energy pact and gas export between Nigerian and German entities. Union Bank and DWS Group signed a pact on cooperation in renewable energy while Riverside LNG of Nigeria and Johannes Schuetze Energy Import AG of Germany on the gas export partnership. President Bola Tinubu witnessed the signing of the two Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) in Berlin, Germany, at the 10th German-Nigerian Business Forum, according to Mr Ajuri Ngelale, the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has promised to speed up on the issue of ensuring the payment of oil royalties, signature bonuses by relevant companies and all other revenue receivables so that Nigeria is not short changed in any form. The agency gave this assurance during a recent visit of the House Committee on Upstream Petroleum to the DPR. The committee, led by its Chairman, Mr Victor Nwokolo, was at the agency as part of its oversight responsibilities. The DPR further also restated its commitment to supporting any legislative effort that would ensure its strengthened its

By Adedapo Adesanya  The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange has admitted the securities of Newrest ASL Nigeria Plc on its trading platform. NASD OTC Securities Exchange welcomed Newrest ASL Nigeria Plc to its trading platform as the 40th member to boost the unlisted securities’ market capitalisation and index. Newrest ASL was introduced to the exchange by APT Securities Limited on Thursday, June 11 2020 via security admission. It will operate under the symbol, SDNEWREST. In a statement, the bourse noted that, “Shareholders of Newrest ASL Nigeria PLC are therefore informed that their shares are admitted and eligible to trade on

By Tenebe Anthonia As corporations all over the world battle the impacts of the Coronavirus (COVID-19), the support of securities exchanges for capital market ecosystems has become even more relevant in building sustainable businesses and stimulating growth across Africa. The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr Oscar Onyema, shared some of the efforts of the NSE in this regard during the African Stock Exchanges panel session at the Brand Africa 100 Launch in commemoration of Africa Day 2020, organised by IC Events, Brand Leadership and Africa Practice on Monday, May 25, 2020. Mr Onyema, alongside the

The Nigerian payments ecosystem has undergone impressive evolution over the years; transitioning from a cash-based system to electronic payment systems that have deepened financial inclusion and spurred the country’s economic growth. Inarguably, there remains a lot of ground to cover, but one cannot ignore the progress that has been recorded over the past two decades. Given the introduction of electronic payment systems, businesses have found newer ways to sell to consumers, while consumers, on the other hand, can purchase goods and services from the comfort of their homes or other locations. The evolution of the payment scene in Nigeria, and

Tickmill, a renowned Forex broker, recently ranked top three in the best Forex brokers list according to TU, prompting a surge of interest from traders worldwide. Trading with Tickmill Forex has been reported to provide many benefits, further highlighting its market value. Traders Union published a comprehensive Tickmill Forex review to shed more light on what sets this broker apart from the rest. Experts have highlighted the pros, cons, and analysis of the broker’s features. What is Tickmill Group TU experts have performed an in-depth review of the Tickmill Group, awarding it a commendable score of 7.96 out of 10.

By Adedapo Adesanya The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed on Tuesday, October 8, 2019 on a positive note as both the NASD Security Index (NSI) and market capitalisation returned to winning ways after going down on Monday. However, despite these two key market indicators closing in the green territory, the other market parameters pointed south after the close of transactions at the OTC Exchange. Business Post reports that the market capitalisation gained N210 million or 0.04 percent to close at N501.66 billion in contrast to N501.45 billion it ended on Monday. Following the same trend wad the NASD Security

By Aduragbemi Omiyale Public Relations and Communications professionals in Nigeria are already gearing up for the quarterly event hosted by a leading PR audit firm, P+ Measurement Services. The event, Evaluate PR, is in its 17th edition and will feature communications and measurement professionals who will share key insights from their wealth of knowledge and experience in PR and Measurement of communications to educate the audience, and it promises to be an interactive session. These experts include Mark Weiner, Chief Insights Officer for Cognito Insights, New York, USA and Kenneth Adejumoh, Head of Corporate Communications, Nosak Group, Nigeria, who together

By Adedapo Adesanya The key performance indicators of the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange remained unchanged on Friday, August 19. Business Post reports that the value of unlisted stocks in Nigeria retained the previous session’s N992.63 billion as the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) remained unchanged at 754.04 basis points. The stalemate witnessed at the session came as there was no price advancer or decliner at the week’s final session. But the level of activity changed, with the volume of transactions receding by 99.6 per cent during the session to 57,506 units from the preceding session’s 2.7 million units. Likewise,