Economy

NSE to Sanction Stockbrokers for Manipulative Trading, Late Sale Orders

Published

7 years ago

05/07/2019

Nigerian Stock Exchange NSE Oscar Onyema

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

In order to curb infractions at the market and stop situations where investors lose their money unnecessarily or even lose confidence in the capital market, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has said it would go very tough on any stockbroker who engages in manipulative trading and marking the close.

In a circular to brokers yesterday, which was obtained by Business Post, the NSE said any dealing member or firm caught in such acts would be severely punished with fines or revocation of operating licence where necessary.

Marking the close involves attempting to influence the closing price of a stock by executing purchase or sale orders at or near the close of normal trading hours.

This act includes approving or entering an order at or near the close of the market, with the primary aim to change or maintain the closing price of a security traded on the NSE.

In the circular, authorities of the local bourse said this act, which is prohibited, can artificially inflate or depress the closing price for the security.

Citing Rule 17.13: Prohibition of Market Manipulation and Illegal Market Dealings, Rulebook of The Exchange 2015 (Dealing Members Rules), specifically Rule 17.13 (a) and (b)(4), the Head of Broker Dealer Regulation at the NSE, Mr Olufemi Shobanjo, said the stock exchange “prohibits dealing members from engaging in such activity,” advising “dealing members to ensure strict compliance with the provisions of the rules to avoid regulatory sanctions.”

Business Post reports that the aforementioned rule states that, “(a) No Dealing Member may –(1) Either for its own account or on behalf of another person, directly or indirectly use or knowingly participate in the use of any manipulative, improper, false or deceptive practice of trading in a security listed on The Exchange which practice creates or might create –(A) a false or deceptive appearance of the trading activity in connection with; or (B) an artificial price for, that security;

“Place an order to buy or sell listed securities which, to his or her knowledge will, if executed, have the effect contemplated in sub-rule (a).”“(b) Without limiting the generality of sub-rule (a), the following are deemed to be manipulative, improper, false or deceptive trading practices:

“(4) Approving or entering an order at or near the close of the market, the primary purpose of which is to change or maintain the closing price of a security traded on the floor of The Exchange.”

In addition, the NSE warned stockbrokers against the circulation of false, misleading or inaccurate information and stay away from front running.

It stressed that any one found guilty of these infractions would pay a “fine to be determined by the exchange based on the circumstances of the case and which fine shall not be less than N500,000; and suspension of the Dealing Member for such period as may be determined by the exchange; or expulsion of the dealing member.”

It further said, “Dealing Members shall not take advantage of an order or a block transaction, that may influence the price of a security, issued by a customer or a group of customers nor shall the Dealing Member trade ahead of customers in the same direction of their orders before the said customers have executed their orders, which may result in the Dealing Member profiting from and illegally taking advantage of the customers.

“Dealing Members are prohibited from making any deals or recommendations to others to trade in the same direction of the orders before the execution thereof.”

The NSE emphasised that all dealing members have a duty to ensure that all information, advertisements, brochures, circulars and publications are accurate, clear, fair, made in good faith and inoffensive.

Economy

Four Securities Erase N51.17bn from NASD Exchange

Published

2 hours ago

27/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Four securities weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.95 per cent on Friday, erasing N41.17 billion from the bourse, which had its market capitalisation at N2.567 trillion compared with the previous session’s N2.618 trillion.

In the same vein, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) decreased at the close of business by 85.28 points to 4,277.07 points from 4,362.32 points.

The price decliners were led by 11 Plc, which gave up N20.50 to sell at N200.50 per share compared with the preceding day’s N221.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc dropped N16.94 to close at N155.20 per unit versus Thursday’s closing price of N172.14 per unit, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went down by N2.11 to N84.68 per share from N86.79 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc lost 11 Kobo to end at N16.74 per unit, in contrast to the N16.85 per unit it closed a day earlier.

During the trading day, the value of transactions jumped by 172.1 per cent to N29.9 million from the preceding session’s N10.9 million, and the volume of trades soared by 136.5 per cent to 955,096 units from the previous 403,901 units, while the number of deals went down by 11.4 per cent to 31 deals from 35 deals.

Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 68.6 million units sold for N4.7 billion.

GNI Plc also ended the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.

Economy

Cautious Trading, Profit-taking Weaken Nigeria’s Stock Exchange by 0.66%

Published

2 hours ago

27/06/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The last trading session of this week on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended on a negative note, with a 0.66 per cent loss on Friday.

This was influenced by sustained selling pressure and cautious trading, which forced investors into profit-taking.

Data obtained by Business Post showed that the energy sector fell by 4.66 per cent, the insurance counter dipped by 2.23 per cent, the consumer goods index depreciated by 0.96 per cent, and the banking segment shed 0.28 per cent, while the industrial goods space remained unchanged.

At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) of Nigeria’s stock exchange went down by 1,531.81 points to 232,049.02 points from 233,580.83 points, and the market capitalisation dropped N983 billion to settle at N148.905 trillion compared with Thursday’s N149.888 trillion.

Aradel was the worst-performing equity after it lost 10.00 per cent to close at N1,417.50. International Energy Insurance slipped by 9.95 per cent to N5.79, Trans-Nationwide Express depreciated by 9.89 per cent to N3.28, eTranzact crashed by 9.79 per cent to N14.75, and UPDC slumped by 9.72 per cent to N28.12.

The best-performing equity for the day was Universal Insurance, which gained 6.32 per cent to close at N1.01, McNichols grew by 5.52 per cent to N8.60, Linkage Assurance expanded by 4.67 per cent to N1.57, NGX Group appreciated by 4.35 per cent to N120.00, and Transcorp increased by 3.62 per cent to N41.50.

As look at the activity level indicated that investors traded 388.7 million stocks worth N18.4 billion in 44,631 deals compared with the 393.7 million stocks valued at N19.2 billion executed in 45,813 deals a day earlier, representing a decline in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 1.27 per cent, 4.17 per cent, and 2.58 per cent, respectively.

Economy

Official FX Market Sees Naira Dip to N1,380.93/$1

Published

2 hours ago

27/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira recorded a loss of 82 Kobo or 0.06 per cent against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, June 26, exchanging at N1,380.93/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s rate of N1,380.11/$1.

Equally, the domestic currency further weakened against the Pound Sterling in the official FX market yesterday by N6.06 to settle at N1,824.90/£1 versus the preceding session’s N1,818.84/£1, and lost N10.74 on the Euro to sell at N1,577 .58/€1 versus N1,566.84/€1.

At the GTBank forex counter, the Naira depreciated against the greenback during the session by N4 to close at N1,387/$1, in contrast to Thursday’s value of N1,383/$1, and at the parallel market, it was unchanged at N1,395/$1.

Interbank FX activity among financial institutions has fluctuated amid a sharp slowdown in forex market interventions by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as it allows demand and supply to move the market.

Also, a stronger greenback has generally put significant pressure on emerging-market currencies.

Nigeria has accessed the first tranche of a proposed $5 billion derivatives financing arrangement with First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC, the largest lender in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The $5 billion facility, approved by the National Assembly earlier this year, is part of the federal government’s plan to diversify external financing sources and reduce borrowing costs. Structured as a Total Return Swap with First Abu Dhabi Bank, proceeds are earmarked for refinancing debt and supporting infrastructure financing.

If the proceeds are brought into the country through the official FX market, the transaction will increase the currency reserves or Dollar liquidity.

At the cryptocurrency market, Solana (SOL) grew by 2.2 per cent to $71.92, Cardano (ADA) gained 1.1 per cent to trade at $0.1474, Ripple (XRP) also appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $1.05, Dogecoin (DOGE) expanded by 0.9 per cent to $0.0755, and Ethereum (ETH) improved by 0.4 per cent to $1,578.84.

On the flip side, TRON (TRX) slid 0.6 per cent to $0.3203, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 0.3 per cent to $564.33, and Bitcoin fell by 0.2 per cent to $60,219.37, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.