The official listing on Monday of outstanding FGN Bonds
amounting to N4.847trillion and Nigerian Treasury Bills (NTBs) of
N2.804trillion on the FMDQ Over-The-Counter (OTC) platform will attract a
broader range of investors in FGN securities on account of the value addition from the activities of the OTC debt capital market.
At the listing ceremony, Abraham Nwankwo,
director-general, Debt Management Office (DMO) assured investors of its
commitment to fulfilling the listing rules already handed to DMO by
FMDQ, saying that the debt office “will continue to direct its efforts
towards ensuring that the country sustains a vibrant and viable domestic
debt securities market that will be the envy of its peers”.
With the listing of these Federal Government securities on the
OTC platform, it is expected that FMDQ will continue to provide a
robust and credible OTC platform for the listed FGN securities to the
public.
It is further expected to continuously work to improve
market transparency and price discovery; monitor the activities of
dealers to ensure accountability and publish relevant market data and
information, as and when due, to guide investors in their investment decisions.
The listing of FGN Bonds and NTBs on FMDQ
OTC plc is another attestation of the commitment of the Federal
Government to further develop and deepen the domestic debt market to
enhance its performance of the pivotal role of financial intermediation –
generating savings and investments necessary for economic growth.
“Listing of these FGN securities on FMDQ
OTC is to identify with the laudable initiative of market operators and
regulators in introducing the FMDQ E-Bond Platform, thereby upgrading
trading in fixed income securities,” Nwankwo said.
He said: “The enviable achievements
recorded in the development of the FGN Bonds market, which include an
active secondary market, creation of sovereign yield curve with tenor of
up to 20 years, diversification of the investor base for fixed income
securities have, among others, earned international recognitions for the
FGN Bond market.
“The most laudable of these recognitions
are the inclusion of the FGN Bonds in the widely used J.P. Morgan’s
Government Bond Index-Emerging Markets (GBI-EM) and Barclays Capital’s
Emerging Markets-Local Currency Government Bond Index (EM-LCBI).”
Bola Onadele. Koko, MD/CEO at FMDQ who
observed that this was yet another feat for FMDQ, reiterated the
commitment of the OTC securities exchange to be innovative and credible
in support of the Nigerian economy.
Koko further said that FMDQ, in providing
an efficient platform for the registration, listing, quotation and
valuation of debt securities, has significantly improved transparency,
integrating the domestic and international markets through enhanced
trade visibility, improved market surveillance, global presence and
competitiveness, enhanced secondary market liquidity and effective price
formation.
He added that by listing, quoting and
trading the FGN Bonds and Nigeria T-Bills on FMDQ’s Platform, the first
of its kind in the nation, the securities gain access to the full
complement of an FMDQ listings and quotations service; which include
global visibility through their inclusion on the FMDQ Bloomberg E-bond
trading system and on the quotations page of the FMDQ website.
Phillips Oduoza, chairman, board listings
and quotations committee, said the listing of these FGN securities on
FMDQ OTC platform would lead to improved secondary market liquidity. “I
believe that more bonds will also be listed on this OTC platform. We
urge issuers to come and list bonds on FMDQ”, Oduoza added.
Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, former chairman,
FMDQ OTC plc said, “FMDQ has a value proposition that resounds the
market. The level of acceptance of the OTC market for debt capital is a
testimony of the work the FMDQ board has done”.
Bolaji Balogun, CEO, ChapelHill Advisory Partners Limited said “FMDQ from inception has played a crucial role in restoring Nigeria’s debt securities market. This market will bring greater liquidity and price discovery to FGN bonds”
Chapel Hill Advisory Partners Limited
(Chapel Hill) is the listings and quotations sponsor appointed to handle
the relevant liaison in respect of these listed FGN securities on the
OTC platform.
Balogun said “Chapel Hill Denham is
privileged to be the Listings and Quotations Sponsor of the Federal
Government of Nigeria’s return to listing and quoting on domestic
capital markets, through the FMDQ. This listing and quotation will bring
greater transparency and liquidity to the Government market and is
ultimately beneficial to the Federal Government of Nigeria, in pricing
future issuances”.
Iheanyi Nwachukwu
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