Economy
Investor Negligence Blamed for N10b Capital Market Fraud
Some capital market stakeholders have cited negligence and greed on the part of investors in the share scam involving Partnership Securities Limited (PSL).
The Chief Executive Officer of PSL, Mr Victor Ogiemwonyi is currently in the custody of Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) and facing criminal and civil charges for misappropriating money of some of his clients. Particularly, the broker, a former Council member of the NSE, was said to have sold shares of former Chief Executive Officer of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), Mr Arnold Ekpe, worth N1.24 billion and misappropriated the proceeds.
He was also said to have introduced a product called Partnership Securities Deposit Account (PSDA), which involved investors keeping their securities with the company for a return annually. While the investors are battling to get back their money, market operators said they wondered how an investor would receive 80 trade alerts on the sale of his shares, he did not get the proceeds of the shares and yet waited for three months before raising the alarm.
“Why did an investor receive 80 alerts that his shares are being sold and refused to act – report to Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or EFCC. This is either pure negligence or there is something that we do not know,” a market operator said.
Meanwhile, market regulators and operators have expressed optimism that the risk based supervision(RBS) framework and the framework to identify systemic non-bank financial institutions (NBFI) recently introduced by the SEC will help to check the activities of operators who use holding company structure to perpetuate infractions in the market.
While the SEC and NSE register and licensed capital market operators (CMO) to play in the market, some of the CMOs float subsidiaries that operate outside the purview of SEC and NSE. In the process of operating outside the supervision of the regulators, some of those CMOs have committed market infractions. BGL Group and Partnership Securities Limited are typical examples. Both organisations used subsidiaries not regulated by SEC and NSE to market financial products and services that led to losses by investors.
This development has given a lot of concerns to investors who said it was discouraging for them to patronise the capital market through CMOs and do not get enough protection.
However, officials of SEC and NSE, who spoke to THISDAY on the condition of anonymity, said the introduction of RBS and framework for NBFI would address that challenge and give investors adequate protection going forward.
SEC had adopting RBS will not only ensures that regulated entities are well positioned to accommodate the risks that they bear, but more importantly absorb risks that may crystallise from adverse events.
The commission said the systemically important CMOs would be subjected to higher capital requirements that are commensurate to their size, scale of activity and inherent risk. Besides, it shall on a quarterly basis review the capital adequacy status of the identified CMOs with a view to ensuring that the capital requirements are within the regulated level.
“Identified CMOs shall be required to enrol for Legal Entity Identifiers (LEI) system at the Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS). LEIs are unique identification associated with a single legal entity, which allows for consistent identification of parties to financial transactions, facilitating a consistent and integrated view of exposures. LEIs are essential for effective risk management for financial companies, especially for assessing their connections and exposures to other firms and regulatory oversight. The LEI can help the financial industry, regulators, and policymakers trace exposures and connections across the financial system,” it said.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The listing of Dangote Industries Limited’s N300 billion series 1 and 2 bonds on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited has been described as an indicator of the depth of the Nigerian capital market.
The Group Chief Executive Officer of the conglomerates, Mr Olakunle Alake, said this on Wednesday when a closing gong ceremony was held to celebrate the completion of the listing of the corporate debt instrument on the local stock exchange.
Mr Alake, represented by the Group Chief Finance Officer, Mr Mustapha Ibrahim, said, “We are pleased to have showcased the depth and liquidity of the domestic capital market whilst we reflect the strong quality of the issuer, despite the current global market realities.”
According to him, the depth of the market was reflected in the successful issuance of the bond, which was the largest aggregate local currency bond issued in the capital market so far within the year.
He further noted that the listing of the bond recorded participation from a wide range of investors, including domestic pension funds, asset managers and insurance companies and further demonstrated investors’ confidence in Nigeria’s credit reality.
On his part, the Divisional Head of Capital Markets at NGX, Mr Jude Chiemeka, speaking at the event, applauded the listing of the bond, which provides corporates with the opportunity to raise capital.
“The listing of this transaction on our platform not only allows for a more liquid capital market, but it also shows our capacity to facilitate large transactions towards enabling a more robust ecosystem,” Mr Chiemeka said.
He further noted that NGX remains committed to fostering similar transactions through its digital gateways such as this and a confident market where corporates and investors can achieve their respective objectives.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Trading activities ended in a stalemate on the floor of the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Wednesday, with no single price gainer or a price loser at the close of business.
As a result of this development, the market capitalisation of the bourse remained intact at N1.03 trillion, as the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) also remained unchanged at 743.15 points.
The unlisted securities market closed flat in the midweek session amid low investor appetite for the market, as attention shifted to the fixed-income market, where the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sold treasury bills at the primary market, with the stop rate over 14 per cent.
Data from the bourse showed that the volume of securities traded yesterday was abysmally low as it went down by 99.9 per cent to 8,299 units from the 20.1 million units transacted a day earlier.
Likewise, the value of shares traded during the session dropped to N1.2 million, 97.3 per cent lower than the N44.5 million posted in the preceding trading day.
These transactions were carried out yesterday in nine deals, 75 per cent lower than the 36 deals executed on Tuesday.
Geo-Fluids Plc remained the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with a turnover of 482.1 million units valued at N544.1 million, UBN Property Plc occupied second place with the sale of 365.8 units worth N309.5 million, while Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc was in third place with the sale of 71.1 million units valued at N5.1 million.
Also, VFD Group Plc ended the session as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with a turnover of 7.3 million units worth N1.7 billion, Geo-Fluids Plc was in second place with a turnover of 482.1 million units worth N544.1 million, while UBN Property Plc was in third place with the sale of 365.8 million units valued at N309.5 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Naira appreciated against the US Dollar in the Peer-2-Peer (P2P) and the Investors and Exporters (I&E) windows of the foreign exchange market on Wednesday, March 30, but depreciated in the black market.
In the P2P segment, it gained N3 against its American counterpart to quote at N764/$1, in contrast to the N767/$1 it was traded on Tuesday as the demand for cryptos, which most traders in this category use the funds to buy, was relatively mild.
In the I&E window or the spot market, the Naira appreciated against the greenback yesterday by 51 Kobo or 0.11 per cent to settle at N461.24/$1 compared with the previous day’s N461.75/$1, according to data obtained from FMDQ Securities Exchange, with the forex turnover put at $74.31 million.
But in the parallel market, the domestic currency depreciated against the US Dollar in the midweek session by N4 to trade at N747/$1 versus Tuesday’s exchange rate of N743/$1.
Also, in the interbank window, the Naira lost N1.93 against the Pound Sterling to sell at N567.68/£1 versus Tuesday’s N565.52/£1, and against the Euro, it slid by N2.25 to at N499.21/€1 compared with the preceding day’s N496.66/€1.
Meanwhile, the digital currency market swayed to the bulls yesterday as most of the tokens tracked by Business Post ended in the green territory amid better-than-expected consumer confidence figures from the United States.
Data from the US Conference Board showed that its monthly survey rose to a reading of 104.2 basis points, better than the 101 mark expected, lifting Bitcoin (BTC) by 4.2 per cent to $28,519.76, as Ethereum (ETH) rose by 0.5 per cent to $1,788.52.
Solana (SOL) grew by 2.1 per cent to $21.08, Dogecoin (DOGE) gained 1.4 per cent to sell at $0.0751, Litecoin (LTC) increased by 0.6 per cent to $90.14, while Cardano (ADA) chalked up 0.5 per cent to quote at $0.3797.
However, Ripple (XRP) dropped 0.4 per cent to trade at $0.5336, Binance Coin (BNB) lost 0.2 per cent to settle at $313.02, and Binance USD (BUSD) and the US Dollar Tether (USDT) traded flat at $1.00 apiece.
