Contrary to reports that the new FMDQ Securities Exchange Plc will break the monopoly enjoyed by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) as a platform to trade securities in the country, the FMDQ management has said it does not intend to compete with the NSE.
FMDQ Securities Exchange Plc, which recently transited from just an over the counter (OTC) platform to a full blown securities exchange, noted that it got the approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to operate as a securities exchange and has therefore established FMDQ Clear.
Speaking during a media parley in Lagos at the weekend, Managing Director, FMDQ Securities Exchange Plc, Bola Onadele, said that the new securities exchange would be looking at how it could create new entities for the future, work and nurture them, work with SMEs and private companies in Nigeria who have not had access to long term financing.
He said: “We are not playing the game of attacking the NSE, that is not our role or our job or the way we do business. Rather, we are looking at how to create new entities for the future, to work and nurture them, to work with SMEs and private companies in Nigeria who have not had access to long term financing. So we are in the business of planning 20-30 years ahead and working with Nigerian entities in getting prosperity to Nigerians.
Onadele stated that FMDQ was putting some internal touches as regards equities and added that it would be in the equities market when it did the first listing of a Nigerian company.
He said: “We are working hard and there are internal things that needs to be put in place to ensure that we are fully ready and we will be in the equities market when we do the first listing but what is important is that we are now a securities exchange that can offer market services
“We do not think any other African country should have financial market better than the financial market in Nigeria. So there is need for us to position the Nigerian capital market to the number one in terms of standards, governance, transparency and we have to work on the liquidity as much as we can and we have to give the stakeholders, not just the Nigerian investors, but clearing houses that will match any international standard and all these match with our vision at FMDQ”
The FMDQ boss , however, pledged that the Exchange would continue to trade in all securities, including fixed income, derivatives, commodities and foreign exchange.