Nigerian Stock Exchange to Trade Shares on NASD

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) will begin to trade its shares on the trading platform of NASD OTC Exchange, Business Post has learned.

The chief executive of NASD Plc, Mr Bola Ajomale, disclosed at a webinar last week that his exchange is expecting to welcome the nation’s leading bourse to the over-the-counter platform in the second half of 2020.

Shortly before the lock down in Lagos in late March 2020, the 257 members of the NSE unanimously voted for the demutualisation of the exchange at a Court Ordered Meeting (COM) held on March 3, 2020.

This also gave the exchange the authority to register a total share capital of N1.250 billion, comprising 2,500 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).

After the demutualisation, the exchange hopes to operate as the Nigerian Stock Exchange Group and will thereafter transfer its securities exchange license and other assets required to carry out the securities function to a new entity called the Nigerian Exchange Limited.

While addressing participants at the event organised by Capital Bancorp, Mr Ajomale said one of the expectations of the OTC bourse in H2 2020 is the trading of NSE shares on its platform.

“We expect that the shares of the Nigerian Stock Exchange will soon start trading on NASD.

“We expect that it will come with a lot of dealers.

“We have a dealer category that allows trading of their shares. So, we expect we can open our dealer category to allow them trade their shares pending when their shares will be listed on the stock exchange itself.

“So, we do know that the shares would be listed on the stock exchange eventually, but in the interim, we can create a market for them; that is what we are designed for, to create market for shares not yet on the Nigerian Stock Exchange,” the NASD chief at the webinar.