Despite that year 2016 poses uncertainties for our economy and capital markets, the NASD OTC Securities Exchange remains optimistic that its trading platform will attract new securities.
NASD plc is the promoter of a trading network that eases secondary market trading of all securities of unquoted public companies primarily in Nigeria but with a focus on the West African region.
“A rebound in the economy, no matter how modest will help in lifting trades and value of trades for many of the securities currently trading below their historical fair values”, said Olutola Mobolurin, chairman, board of directors, NASD plc at its 3rd annual general meeting held recently in Lagos.
NASD OTC plc had increased the number of trading securities from 19 in January 2015 to 24, a 26 percent increase. The NASD OTC plc believes that with the release of the list of public companies duly registered at the SEC, the number of new admitted securities will increase significantly in 2016.
As at December 2015, the number of Participating Institutions and Authorised Traders stood at 107 and 170 respectively while the cumulative value of transactions executed NASD OTC platform exceeded N50billion.
Bola Ajomale, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, NASD OTC plc said in 2016, they will continue to build structures to support economic growth in the West African region and support capital mobilisation through liquidity and transparency.
“Specifically, we aim to significantly the number of securities trading on the platform by end of the year. We also intend to fully evolve into an alternative investment market catering not only for equities which was our start point but to other asset classes such as the private equity market, small and medium enterprise support, inter-cooperative fund trading and crowdfunding,” Ajomale told stakeholders at the meeting.
He added: “Technology has always been a major driver of the OTC market and as a result we launched a more interactive website in January 2016 which allows all stakeholders obtain even more information.
We are also in the process of forming relationships with major data distributors with a view to distributing market data. We shall continue to adopt technology that will ease access to trade and obtain information on the NASD OTC Securities Exchange.”
As the market matures and builds local acceptance, NASD plc has commenced building relationships with other Exchanges such as the London Stock Exchange (LSE), The Bourse Regionale des Valeurs Mobilieres and the Canadian Securities Exchange.
“Currently, we are completing our registration with the Association of Stock Exchanges of Africa. Our platform partners –the Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) and the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) whose platforms have allowed us deliver premium level trading in unlisted securities in Nigeria,” the NASD OTC plc CEO added.
Operators in NASD plc market environment include issuers of equity and fixed income instruments, institutional and individual investors, a growing pool of accredited authorised traders and their Participating Institutions (PIs), settlement banks, clearing systems, private equity and venture capital firms with a view to increasing liquidity in the unquoted segment of the long term funding market.
“The market witnessed an extraordinary trade in excess of N40billion, the first of its kind since inception and over 140days of continuous trading up until the end of 2015 following the release of the rule on trading in unlisted public securities. Also in 2015, the company crossed the twenties mark in terms of the number of securities on its platform, ending the year with a total of 24 securities.
We expect to see even more activity on the market as more investors (local and foreign) tap into the transparency and value which NASD offers,” Mobolurin said in his statement to stakeholders at the meeting.
Iheanyi Nwachukwu
