NSE Lifts Trading Suspension on Sovereign Trust Insurance Shares

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The trading suspension earlier placed on the shares of Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc has now been lifted, Business Post has learnt.

The lifting of the suspension was confirmed on Tuesday, July 11, 2017 through a statement issued by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (SEC).

In the statement signed by Mr Godstime Iwenekhai, the Acting Head in charge of Listings Regulation Department at the NSE, the stock market regulator explained that it removed the embargo after the insurance firm “submitted its audited accounts for the period ended 31 December 2016 on July 5, 2017.”

Mr Iwenekhai said, “In view of the submission of the relevant accounts and our satisfaction that the accounts complied with our applicable rules, The Exchange has lifted the suspension of trading in the shares of Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc.

“The public is hereby notified that pursuant to Rule 3.3, Rules for Filing of Accounts and Treatment of Default Filing, Rulebook of The Exchange (Issuers’ Rules), which states that; “The suspension of trading in the issuer’s securities shall be lifted upon submission of the relevant accounts provided The Exchange is satisfied that the accounts comply with all applicable rules of The Exchange.

“The Exchange shall thereafter also announce through the medium by which the public and the SEC were initially notified of the suspension, that the suspension has been lifted”; the suspension of trading in the shares of Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc has been lifted today, 11 July 2017.”

Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc was one of the 17 listed companies suspended from trading their share on the floor of the NSE “for non-compliant with Rule 3.1, Rules for Filing of Accounts and Treatment of Default Filing, Rulebook of The Exchange (Issuers’ Rules), which states that; “If an Issuer fails to file the relevant accounts by the expiration of the Cure Period, The Exchange will: (a) send to the Issuer a “Second Filing Deficiency Notification” within 2 business days after the end of the Cure Period; (b) suspend trading in the Issuer’s securities; and (c) notify the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Market within 24 hours of the suspension.”