Collaborate More for Benefits of Investors, SEC Boss Urged Securities Exchanges

Goddy Egene and Nosa Alekhuogie

The Acting Director- General, Securities and Exchange Commission, Ms. Mary Uduk has urged securities exchanges in Nigeria to collaborate more so as to provide efficient and cost-effective services for the benefits of investors.

Uduk, made the call at the official launch of the Association of Securities Exchange of Nigeria (ASEN) in Lagos.

ASEN, which is Nigeria’s first association of domestic securities exchanges, is a non-profit industry association established to accelerate the development of domestic securities exchanges and support the Nigerian capital market to achieve greater global competitiveness.

Membership of the association currently includes: AFEX Commodities Exchange (AFEX), FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange (FMDQ), NASD OTC Securities Exchange (NASD), Nigeria Commodity Exchange (NCX) and The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

The SEC boss commended the securities exchange for their collaborative effort in putting up the association.

She said, “We recognise that the launch of the ASEN does not remove the fact that the exchanges and distinct institutions whose interest may sometimes not align and as such I would like to enjoin you to keep the competition healthy for the protection of investors and development of the capital market.

“The securities exchanges are encouraged to work more closely especially in the area of share services to provide efficiency and cost effectiveness across their operations.

“I would like to commend the tenacity of those who worked selflessly to make this association a reality and we hope the market would reap the huge benefits of these collaborative effort.”

The Chairman of ASEN Board of Trustees and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema said, “We are excited to launch ASEN, an association that will help build a stronger capital market and cultivate a culture of mutual support and collaboration among stakeholders. Global securities exchanges are responding to developments in the operating environment and competitive landscape, by establishing mechanisms for cooperation that position not only their businesses but their markets to become more attractive to investors. Nigerian securities exchanges must therefore embrace a broader collaborative effort to unlock new opportunities and efficiencies in view of increasing global competition. The establishment of this association is a bold step towards the actualisation of that vision of becoming globally competitive trading venues.”

A member, BoT ASEN and CEO, NASD Plc, Mr. Bola Ajomale, said:“This event is the culmination of deliberate cooperation between the various exchanges in the Nigerian capital market. Collaboration between exchanges in this manner will ensure some level of uniformity and consistency in governance whilst allowing each member to continue along its natural trajectory. Ultimately key stakeholders in the Nigerian capital market – regulators, issuers, investors and operators will be the real beneficiaries. We also believe the existence of such an association will significantly support market structure in Nigeria.”

Other members of the BoT of ASEN include: Mr. Ayodeji Balogun (representing AFEX), Ms. Zaheera Baba-Ari (representing NCX) and Mr. Bola Onadele. Koko (representing FMDQ).