Anwuli Femi-Pearse, the newly elected president, Financial Markets Dealers Association of Nigeria (FMDA), has reaffirmed her commitment to ensuring that the fixed income market becomes more transparent and digitised for operational efficiency.
Speaking at her swearing-in ceremony during the 32nd Annual General Meeting of FMDA in Lagos, Femi-Pearse, who is the group head, Treasury, Assets & Liability Management at Sterling Bank, said equipping fixed income market traders with the right skills, ensuring that bonds and T-Bills trading become more transparent are some of her immediate priorities.
“There has been a lot of work done in the past to promote efficiency and transparency in forex operations, which helped to stabilise the forex market. In the last few years, we have been able to support forex market stabilisation by making the market operations more effective and transparent,” Femi-Pearse said.
“We want to channel that energy to the fixed income market. We want to ensure that bonds and T-Bills trading are seamless and more transparent,” she stated.
The new president said that she will be working with her team to ensure that trading around treasury operations is digitised for seamless and more efficient service offering.
According to her, the FMDA under her leadership will further prioritise training for young dealers, including advocating for ACI Dealing/Settlements Certification to enhance their competence on the job and promote professionalism in the industry.
She disclosed that a lot of financial market knowledge that has been lost in the past years will be restored, while promoting sanity in treasury and banking operations.
Upon assuming this role, Femi-Pearse will steer the affairs of the association for the next two years, promising to uphold the objectives of the body and work in harmony with other members, member institutions, and regulatory authorities to move the association forward.
Her predecessor, Nadia Zakari, who is the current head of markets at Rand Merchant Bank Nigeria, said the AGM was a valuable opportunity to reflect on FMDA’s activities and progress during the financial year ended March 30, 2025 and to engage stakeholders in shaping the future of the Association.
“Over the past two years, the governing council has taken deliberate steps to advance our strategic objectives. Guided by our mandate, we have strengthened the foundations of Professionalism and Ethical Conduct within our organisation while building momentum for long-term institutional growth,” she said.
Zakari added that a significant area of progress has been FMDA’s deepening collaboration with regulatory authorities, especially in the area of monetary policy formulation and market development.
Also speaking, the FMDA Executive Secretary, Fisayo Fatade, disclosed that the Secretariat remains a dependable partner in facilitating the work of technical groups and in advancing the overarching interests of members, as well as in strengthening industry competencies.
The FMDA is a self-regulatory financial services body established to help develop financial market infrastructure, human capital and promote professional as well as ethical standards in treasury activities in Nigeria.
