FMDQ Restates Commitment to Development of Derivatives Market

By Goddy Egene

The Group Managing Director/CEO of FMDQ Holdings Plc, Mr. Bola Onadele. Koko, has expressed the company’s commitment to the development of a thriving derivatives market in Nigeria by launching new hedging products in 2020.

Onadele made the commitment while speaking at the annual general meeting (AGM) of the group in Lagos, noting that with the support and collaboration of its stakeholders, it would further transform the derivative market.

According to him, the group would continue to enhance the readiness of FMDQ Clear to operate a fully-fledged central counterparty (CCP) upon regulatory approval, whilst making efforts through FMDQ Depository to facilitate interoperability amongst the central securities depositories in Nigeria to enable seamless processing of clients’ transactions.

“Also, with the incorporation of its newest wholly owned subsidiary, FMDQ Private Markets Limited (FMDQ Private Markets) in January 2020, the group shall focus on promoting the development of organised private capital, providing the much-needed transparency in the market for private debt and equity securities, by eliminating information asymmetry and ultimately improving credibility in the market for private issuances,” he said.

Presiding over the FMDQ Group AGM, the newly appointed Group Chairman of the Board of Directors, Dr. Kingsley Obiora, presented the financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2019, saying FMDQ achieved a resilient performance amidst the challenging operating environment, due to strategic initiatives implemented in its first strategic lustrum (2015 – 2019).

He said: “2019 was a year of growth, expansion, and reorganisation for FMDQ, with the consolidation of its flagship wholly owned subsidiary, FMDQ Exchange, the second year of the operationalisation of its wholly owned subsidiary, FMDQ Clear, and the activation of another wholly owned subsidiary, FMDQ Depository, making significant progress in its bid to help de-risk the financial markets by constructing market infrastructures in all components of the capital market value chain, from pre-trade, trade to post-trade.”

He further stated that through FMDQ Securities Exchange, the group admitted a total of 84 securities split across bonds, commercial papers (CPs), and funds from various sectors for listing and quotation on the platform of its platform, in addition to the registration of several CP Programmes.

“2019 also saw the strengthening of the operational and strategic capacities of FMDQ’s clearing, settlement, and depository businesses in line with their drive to create value for stakeholders in the Nigerian financial market. Consequently, FMDQ Clear focused on building operational readiness and capabilities to extend its services from just clearing and settlement to providing CCP services in the near term, whilst FMDQ Depository leveraged the digitised and integrated structure of FMDQ Group to operationalise its new business; yielding positive results and further paving the way for the Depository to actualise its vision of becoming the Depository of Choice in Nigeria,” Obiora said.

At the AGM, shareholders of FMDQ ratified, amongst other things, the appointment of Obiora, Deputy Governor, Economic Policy Directorate, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as new chairman; Mr. Emeka Onwuka, Partner and Head of Private Clients & Family Wealth Practice at Andersen Tax in Nigeria; and Mr. Sadiq Mohammed, Deputy Group Chief Executive Officer of the Asset & Resource Management (ARM) both serving as non-executive directors on the board of FMDQ.