Economy
Tribunal Orders Stockbroker to Pay Investor N3m Damages
By Dipo Olowookere
Meristem Securities Limited has been directed by the Investments and Securities Tribunal (IST) in Abuja to pay the sum of N3 million as damages to an investor, Mr Steven Guar.
The fine was the stockbroker’s misconduct, which forced the capital market investor to incur some losses and hardship.
In his ruling, Mr Jude Ike Udunni, who presided over the tribunal, held that evidence showed that Meristem Securities Limited failed to discharge the duty of care required of it to the investor who is its client.
He further ordered the company to take immediate steps to ensure that all shares, dividends, and bonuses accrued and still outstanding to the applicant be credited to his CSCS account.
Mr Guar had filed a suit against Meristem Securities Limited and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
He claimed that the share certificates he deposited with the company for verification and dematerialisation in 2008 was lost by Meristem Securities Limited, but was only informed about the loss in 2014.
According to him, he read about the loss in 2014 from the company’s reply to a regulatory query from SEC, where they claimed his share certificates were lost in transit between their Kaduna and Lagos offices.
The applicant also complained that Meristem Securities Limited failed to account for the whereabouts of another 50,000 units of Access Bank Plc shares he bought through it in an Initial Public Offer (IPO) in 2004.
According to the particulars of the case, Mr Guar sometime in 2004 bought 50,000 units of Access Bank Plc shares through Meristem Securities Limited and gave his office address as Jos, Plateau State.
From that time, he did not hear anything again about the shares allocation/allotment nor was a share certificate delivered to him until 2012 when he accidentally received a dividend bonus certificate issued on the shares in 2008.
He, thereafter, made inquiries and got to know that his address on the shares subscription form was changed to another address in Ikoyi, Lagos.
The address in Lagos belonging to the company was where his dividends, bonuses and letters were channelled. He demanded from the company the original certificate of the shares as well as the other bonuses and dividends that had accrued which they failed to oblige.
Also, in 2008, the applicant in another separate transaction travelled to the Kaduna Office branch of the company and handed them various share certificates of different companies in which he held shares to take to the Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) in Lagos to verify, dematerialise and credit into his account only for the company to fail to account for the whereabouts of those other share certificates.
Mr Guar, after failing to resolve the issues even with the intervention of SEC, approached the Tribunal seeking eight declarative remedies including an order that he was entitled to know the whereabouts of his share certificates; that the certificates be returned to him and that the withholding of dividends accrued from his 50,000 units of shares till date was illegal.
He also sought an order to compel SEC to direct Meristem Securities to regularise documentation of his shares with his Registrar and consolidate his accrued dividends, bonuses and interests, among others.
But in its defence, Meristem Securities Limited informed the Tribunal that the share certificates were lost in transit between their Kaduna and Lagos offices.
On the entry of a wrong address in his offer application form and incorrect routing of his letters to their Lagos office which kept him in the shadows, the company denied responsibility arguing that Registrars were responsible for custody of addresses and dispatch of mails.
Meristem also argued that though the certificates were lost, the client’s shares were still intact. However, the client proved before the Tribunal how the value of the shares eroded drastically during the market tumble that took place.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The value of the Naira improved against the United States Dollar by 0.2 per cent or N3.23 at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Thursday, April 17, trading at N1,599.93/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,603.16/$1.
Also, the local currency appreciated against the British Pound Sterling in the spot market during the trading day by N1.73 to finish at N2,120.24/£1 versus Wednesday’s closing value of N2,121.97/£1 and gained 48 Kobo against the Euro to settle at N1,817.69/€1, in contrast to the N1,818.17/€1 it was exchanged in the midweek session.
At the parallel market, the Nigerian currency traded flat against the US Dollar yesterday at N1,620/$1.
The Nigerian Naira has been volatile this week despite moves by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to strengthen the domestic currency, which is facing forex pressures.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was bearish on Thursday amid reports that President Donald Trump of the United States has been privately discussing firing US Federal Reserve chairman, Mr Jerome Powell, raising concerns about market stability and central bank independence.
Mr Powell had earlier criticized Mr Trump’s tariffs policy, saying that it would likely result in a slowing economy and rising prices —otherwise known as “stagflation.”
In his remarks, Mr Powell made clear his larger focus for now would be on prices, suggesting tighter central bank policy than otherwise thought.
President Trump, who nominated the Federal Reserve’s chairman during his first term and was given a second four-year term by President Joe Biden has expressed his displeasure with Mr Powell since retaking the White House.
Mr Powell, though, who is set to remain at the helm of the US central bank until May 2026, has repeatedly stated his determination to finish his term and suggested the president has no standing to fire him.
Ripple (XRP) slumped by 1.8 per cent to $2.05, Dogecoin (DOGE) depreciated by 1.7 per cent to $0.1544, Ethereum (ETH) dropped 1.5 per cent to close at $1,579.44, Cardano (ADA) went down by 1.2 per cent to $0.6133, Bitcoin (BTC) dipped by 0.4 per cent to $84,471.19, Solana (SOL) slid by 0.3 per cent to $134.00, and Litecoin (LTC) declined by 0.2 per cent to $75.26.
However, Binance Coin (BNB) gained 0.8 per cent to trade at $587.78, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Crude oil went up by more than 3 per cent on Thursday, supported by hopes for a trade deal between the United States and the European Union and new US sanctions to curb Iranian oil exports, which continued to elevate supply concerns.
During the session, Brent crude futures gained $2.11 or 3.2 per cent to sell at $67.96 per barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures appreciated by $2.21 or 3.54 per cent to close at $64.68 a barrel.
For the week, both Brent and WTI gained 5 per cent, their first weekly gain in three weeks. Thursday is the last settlement day of the week ahead of the Easter holidays.
US President Donald Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met in the US and expressed optimism about resolving trade tensions that have strained US-European relations.
President Trump said he was 100 per cent certain of an eventual trade deal with Europe, the most confidence he has expressed on those negotiations since rattling world markets with his tariff announcements.
“Of course there will be a trade deal, very much. They want to make one very much. And we are going to make a trade deal. I fully expect it. And it will be a fair deal,” he said.
The 27-nation European Union faces 25 per cent import tariffs on steel, aluminum and cars, and broader tariffs on almost all other goods under President Trump’s policy to hit countries he says impose high barriers to US imports.
The American President has offered to make trade deals with as many nations as possible to limit the impact of the tariffs.
Also supporting prices are sanctions issued by Trump’s administration on Wednesday, including against a China-based oil refinery, ramp up pressure on Iran amid talks on the country’s nuclear programme.
The US also issued additional sanctions on several companies and vessels it said were responsible for facilitating Iranian oil shipments to China as part of Iran’s shadow fleet.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, OPEC+, has also provided updates and reassurance to the market, stating that they remain in control with flexibility to cut production if needed.
The cartel said on Wednesday it had received updated plans for Iraq, Kazakhstan and other countries to make further output cuts to compensate for pumping above quotas.
Worries remain as OPEC, the International Energy Agency (IEA) and several banks, including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, cut forecasts on oil prices and demand growth this week over tariffs and possible retaliation.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The amount shared by the federal government, the 36 state governments and the 774 local government areas of the federation from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) in April 2025 from the revenue generated last month declined by N100 billion, Business Post reports.
This month, FAAC disbursed about N1.578 trillion to the three tiers of government, lower than the N1.678 billion distributed in March 2025.
In a communiqué by the Director of Press and Public Relations in the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF), Bawa Mokwa, it was stated that the N1.578 trillion comprised statutory revenue of N931.325 billion, Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue of N593.750 billion, Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) revenue of N24.971 billion, and an Exchange Difference revenue of N28.711 billion.
The money was shared after deducting N85.376 billion as cost of collection and N747.180 billion as total transfers, interventions and refunds from the total gross revenue of N2.411 trillion generated by the nation last month.
It was explained that gross statutory revenue of N1.718 trillion was received for March 2025 versus N1.653 trillion received in February 2025, and gross revenue of N637.618 billion was available from VAT compared with N654.456 billion a month earlier.
As for the distribution of the N1.578 trillion, FAAC said it gave the federal government N528.696 billion, the states N530.448 billion, the local councils N387.002 billion, and the benefiting states N132.611 billion as 13 per cent of mineral revenue.
It disclosed that on the N931.325 billion statutory revenue, the federal government received N422.485 billion, the state governments got N214.290 billion, the LGAs were given N165.209 billion, and the oil-producing states went away with N129.341 billion.
Further, from the N593.750 billion VAT revenue, the national government got N89.063 billion, the state governments received N296.875 billion, and the local councils got N207.813 billion.
In addition, from the N24.971 billion EMTL, the central government was given N3.746 billion, the state governments got N12.485 billion, and LGAs shared N8.740 billion.
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