Investors Trade N22.5tn Securities on FMDQ OTC in Three Months

Goddy Egene

The FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange recorded transactions worth N22.5 trillion in  the first quarter of 2016.  The FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange was licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2013 as an over-the-counter (OTC) securities exchange and self-regulatory organisation to run the fixed income trading platform and organise the market to international standards.

According to data obtained by THISDAY, investors staked a total of N22.5 trillion on securities in the market in the first three months of 2016.  About N13.92 trillion was invested in January and February, while N8.58 trillion was invested in March.  The performance in March showed an increase of 30.7 per cent or N2.02 trillion compared to the previous month’s value.

An analysis of the transactions showed that activities in the foreign exchange (forex) market accounted for 18.67 per cent of the turnover in March, down 5.22 percentage points from the value recorded in February whilst transactions in Treasury Bills (T. bills) increased by 1.99 percentage points to account for 37.66 per cent of the total turnover.

Secured market (Repurchase Agreements / Buy-Backs) and FGN2 Bonds accounted for 30.74 per cent and 10.49 per cent respectively, just as activities in Unsecured Placements/Takings contributed 2.40 per cent to the total turnover

Transactions in the forex market settled at $6.56 billion, the same level as recorded in the month of February. On a year-on-year (YoY) basis, FX transactions recorded a decline of $2.66bn (28.88 per cent). Member-Member trades recorded a decline of $23.86mm (28.74 per cent) as activities nose-dived across all sub-categories. Turnover in the Member-Client category, stood at  $5.96 billion, marginally offsetting the decline recorded in the Member-Member Category for the period.  On aggregate, spot transactions increased $206.65 million (4.07 per cent) while Swaps transactions declined $220.62 million (14.95 per cent) to settle at $5.08 billion and $1.48billion respectively.

 Turnover  in the fixed income market settled at   N4.13 trillion, showing N974.69 billion (30.87 per cent) above the value recorded in the previous month. Transactions in the T.bills market accounted for 78.21 per cent of the turnover, up 4.03 percentage points from last month’s value.
Outstanding T.bills stood at N5.41 trillion,  N118.87 billion (2.25 per cent) above the value as at February while outstanding FGN bonds settled at  N6.24 trillion,  N125.00bn (2.05 per cent) higher than previous month’s value.

Chairman of   FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange,  Dr.  Sarah Alade last Friday  restated  the exchange’s  commitment to   develop and make the   debt securities market globally competitive by improving liquidity, transparency, governance and efficiency in 2016.
Alade, who spoke at  the fourth annual general meeting(AGM) of company in Lagos, noted that   2015 was  been a busy year for the exchange as it worked hard to position itself as Nigeria’s foremost debt capital market securities exchange.

Also, the Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Bola Onadele.Koko    appreciated all stakeholders for their contributions towards ensuring a successful 2015 for the exchange.
He promised that in 2016, FMDQ would not rest on its oars as it remained poised to consolidate on the progress already made to ensure that the Nigerian financial markets are continually empowered to be innovative and credible in support of the nation’s economy.