Economy
SEC Praises Market Development Initiatives of NGX, CSCS, Others
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, the Central Securities Clearing System and other capital market stakeholders have been praised by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for their market development initiatives, helping the capital market scale through the COVID-19 crisis.
According to the Director-General of SEC, Mr Lamido Yuguda, NGX plays a very significant role in the Nigerian capital market, and as such, the commission remains supportive of the exchange in the key role it plays towards developing the market.
While speaking at a meeting with capital market stakeholders in Abuja on Wednesday, the SEC chief further said the agency was aware that the advancement of new-generation information technologies, the rapid innovation of financial instruments and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic are gradually transforming the operations of capital markets through the introduction of sound initiatives in the financial industry eco-system.
“The past two years have been challenging for the Nigerian capital market, which is largely a reflection of the Pandemic-related unexpected challenges in global markets. However, the NGX has continued to deploy capable resources to tackle elements militating against the market’s growth.
“You will agree with me that the efforts made and gains achieved in this regard are as a result of the collective efforts of various stakeholders in the Nigerian capital market, including the commission and the NGX Ltd. This emphasises the importance of collaboration on the growth of our market,” he said.
Mr Yuguda said specifically, the launching of the Smart Surveillance System and X-Mobile App for retail trading; upgrading of the X-Issuer Platform to further enhance market integrity; and the X-Public Offer initiatives are highly commendable achievements that support our common goal of building a world-class capital market.
While applauding their efforts, the SEC boss, however, reminded them of the challenging task ahead and new threats brought forth by Fintech and what is expected from stakeholders to consolidate on the achieved gains while making necessary adjustments to improve market practices and remain vigilant against potential risks.
“We all have a common interest in developing a healthy, viable and world-class capital market. At the bottom of the work we do at the SEC, is investor protection. While trying to look at the rules we should not forget that the ultimate goal of the commission is to have a fair and transparent market that is fair to investors,” Mr Yuguda said.
He reiterated that as the apex regulator of the capital market with a mandate to develop the market, SEC will continue to support all efforts aimed at making the markets fairer, more efficient and more transparent.
In his opening remarks, Chief Executive Officer of NGX Limited, Mr Temi Popoola, said there have been strong growth and market interactions in recent times which he attributed to the collaborative efforts of stakeholders.
Mr Popoola emphasised the need for education in the technology sector in the country, adding that as a market it is time to put all hands on deck to tap the potential in that sector.
“A lot of opportunities exist for the capital market. Technology can be used to address the capital formations in the market and we are making progress in tapping that.
“We are on a digitalisation drive and we have started with the MTN offer which was done electronically, we need to improve on that going forward. That is the only way to unlock the demography of young Nigerians that are technology savvy.
“We are collaborating with relevant stakeholders to ensure what’s best for the ecosystem. We are exploring ways to strengthen the entire market infrastructure,” he stated.
Also speaking, the Managing Director/CEO of CSCS, Mr Haruna Jalo-Waziri, welcomed the collaboration between markets, regulators and tiger stakeholders saying that the aim is to simplify the marker and give investors the experience they deserve to ensure they keep coming back.
“The market is changing, and with technology, a lot of the ways we were operating is also changing and we look forward to better market and operations,” he added.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Recently, shareholders of Sterling Bank Plc authorised the board of the company to transform its organizational structure into a holding firm to be known as Sterling Financial Holdings Company.
A holding company or Holdco is a company set up for the purpose of making and managing, for its own account, equity investment in two or more companies, being its subsidiaries, engaged in the provision of financial services, one of which must be a bank.
The Chief Executive of Sterling Bank, Mr Abubakar Suleiman, said with the new arrangement, shareholders would have value for their money as the company would have the opportunity to increase its income streams because of its involvement in new ventures.
He disclosed that the advantages of the newly formed holding company include value creation to maximise earnings through new businesses, agility to optimise for opportunities and adapt to a rapidly changing market, maximise current and future talent potential with opportunities within the group and subsidiaries to nurture and engage its wealth of young and innovative talent.
According to him, the holding company also affords Sterling another opportunity to leverage its successful HEART strategy, which has seen the bank make consolidated investments in the Health, Education, Agriculture, Renewable Energy and Transportation sectors, growing the company’s year-on-year profits to record highs despite strong economic headwinds.
With the adoption of a Holdco structure, Sterling now possesses the latitude to make inroads into other sectors within financial services, such as pensions, asset management, payment services, real estate, and different verticals, along with the current banking licenses held by the commercial and non-interest banking subsidiaries, Sterling Bank and The Alternative Bank.
In recent times, the bank has doubled down on digitisation with specialised products through the development and introduction of Specta, OneBank, I-invest, Gazelle and Omni X to fulfil the market’s needs for innovative retail and commercial banking solutions.
On his part, the Chairman of Sterling Bank, Mr Asue Ighodalo, said, “Following the implementation of the scheme, shareholders will exchange their shares in the Bank for shares in HoldCo in the same proportion as their current holdings in the Bank, which will be a regulated entity for CBN purposes.”
He added that the scheme would provide several benefits to the shareholders of the bank, some of which include facilitating diversification into other permissible business lines, thereby promoting growth and enhancing shareholder value and facilitating a consolidated financial strength of the group, which will improve access and ability to raise capital.
It was gathered that upon the final ratification by the regulators, the commercial banking subsidiary of the holding company, Sterling Bank; will continue to operate with its current name as a limited liability company, with shares transferred from the publicly traded company transferred to the newly formed Sterling Financial Holdings Company.
By Adedapo Adesanya
FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc extended the bulls’ presence at the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.98 per cent on Tuesday, September 27.
This expanded the market capitalisation of the bourse by N9.38 billion to N963.94 billion from N954.56 billion and jerked the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) up by 3.19 basis points to end the day at 762.12 points as against the 765.31 points it recorded in the previous session.
FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc appreciated yesterday by N4.90 to sell at N78.00 per unit compared to the N73.10 per unit it was transacted a day earlier.
Despite the growth posted yesterday by the NASD OTC securities, there was a price loser and it was Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP) Plc, which declined by N1.00 to settle at N199.00 per share compared with Monday’s value of N198.00 per share.
During the session, there was a rise in the volume of securities traded by 408.8 per cent to 189,296 units from the 37,205 units transacted by market participants in the preceding session.
In the same pattern, there was a rise in the value of shares traded by 129.1 per cent to N6.2 million from the N2.7 million recorded on Monday.
These transactions were completed in 18 deals, the same amount of deals carried out in the previous trading session.
At the close of trades, AG Mortgage Bank Plc was the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with the sale of 2.3 billion units valued at N1.2 billion, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc stood in second place with 687.6 million units worth N14.3 billion, and Mixta Real Estate Plc was in third place with 178.1 million units worth N313.4 million.
The most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis was CSCS Plc with the sale of 687.6 million units worth N14.3 billion, VFD Group Plc was in second place with 27.7 million units valued at N7.4 billion, as FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc was in third place with 14.3 million units valued at N1.7 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The value of the Naira appreciated against the United States currency in the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) segment of the foreign exchange market on Tuesday by N2 to close at N740/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N742/$1.
However, it depreciated against the American Dollar at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window of the FX market yesterday by 33 Kobo or 0.08 per cent to trade at N436.33/$1 in contrast to Monday’s value of N436.00/$1.
Data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange disclosed that the value of forex transactions recorded at the spot market yesterday went up by 27.31 per cent or $21.33 million to $99.43 million from the $78.10 million reported a day earlier.
In the interbank segment of the market, the Naira closed flat against the Pound Sterling at N463.96/£1 and against the Euro, it also remained unchanged at N416.15/€1 on Tuesday.
In the same vein, the exchange rate of the local currency paired with the greenback closed flat at the parallel market yesterday at N722/$1.
Meanwhile, the digital currency market was bearish yesterday, with Bitcoin (BTC) falling below the $20,000 mark again after it managed to rise above that level a day earlier.
On Tuesday, its value went down by 6.5 per cent to close at $18,765.50 as Ripple (XRP) recorded a 10.1 per cent slump to trade at $0.4282.
Ethereum (ETH) saw its value go down by 6.9 per cent to sell at $1,284.29, Solana (SOL) recorded a 6.5 per cent slide to quote at $32.44, Cardano (ADA) recorded a 5.6 per cent decline to settle at $0.4312, Binance Coin (BNB) shed 5.1 per cent to sell for $270.03, Litecoin (LTC) went down by 5.0 per cent to trade at $52.07, and Dogecoin (DOGE) saw a 4.5 per cent slump to trade $0.0594.
But Binance USD and the US Dollar Tether (USDT) closed flat at $1.00.a
