The Nigerian capital market will on Wednesday, August 8, 2018 witness the launch of the Association of Securities Exchange of Nigeria (ASEN) at The Nigerian Stock Exchange event centre in Lagos.
ASEN, Nigeria’s first association of domestic securities exchanges, is a non-profit industry association established to accelerate the development of domestic securities exchanges and support the Nigerian capital market to achieve greater global competitiveness.
Membership of the association currently includes AFEX Commodities Exchange (AFEX), FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange (FMDQ), NASD OTC Securities Exchange (NASD), Nigeria Commodity Exchange (NCX) and The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
Special guests slated to attend the Launch include the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Capital Markets and Institutions, Hon. Yusuf Tajudeen; Ag. Director-General of the Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC), Mrs. Mary Uduk; Director-General, Debt Management Office (DMO), Mrs. Patience Oniha; Mr. Tony Elumelu, Chairman, Heirs Holding (investors in AFEX Commodities Exchange) and Mr. Abimbola Ogunbanjo, President, National Council of The Nigerian Stock Exchange.
Speaking on the development, Mr. Oscar N. Onyema, Chairman, ASEN Board of Trustees and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), NSE, noted that “we are excited to launch ASEN, an association that will help build a stronger capital market and cultivate a culture of mutual support and collaboration among stakeholders. Global securities exchanges are responding to developments in the operating environment and competitive landscape, by establishing mechanisms for cooperation that position not only their businesses but their markets to become more attractive to investors. Nigerian securities exchanges must therefore embrace a broader collaborative effort to unlock new opportunities and efficiencies in view of increasing global competition. The establishment of this Association is a bold step towards the actualization of that vision of becoming globally competitive trading venues”.
Mr. Bola Ajomale, Member, Board of Trustees, ASEN and CEO, NASD Plc. stated, “This event is the culmination of deliberate cooperation between the various exchanges in the Nigerian capital market. Collaboration between exchanges in this manner will ensure some level of uniformity and consistency in governance whilst allowing each member to continue along its natural trajectory. Ultimately key stakeholders in the Nigerian capital market – Regulators, issuers, investors and operators will be the real beneficiaries. We also believe the existence of such an association will significantly support market structure in Nigeria.”
Other distinguished members of the Board of Trustees, ASEN include: Mr. Ayodeji Balogun (representing AFEX), Ms. Zaheera Baba-Ari (representing NCX) and Mr. Bola Onadele Koko (representing FMDQ).
About the Association of Securities Exchanges of Nigeria (ASEN)
The Association of Securities Exchanges of Nigeria (ASEN) is Nigeria’s first association of domestic securities exchanges.
It was incorporated in 2017 as a non-profit industry association to support the advancement of the Nigerian capital market and the development of members via knowledge-sharing, collaboration, capacity-building and advocacy. ASEN currently has five (5) member exchanges, namely AFEX Commodities Exchange (AFEX), FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange (FMDQ), NASD OTC Securities Exchange (NASD), Nigeria Commodity Exchange (NCX) and The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
The current Chairman is Mr. Oscar N. Onyema, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of The Nigerian Stock Exchange. The Secretariat of the Association is at FMDQ OTC Securities Plc head office in Lagos, Nigeria.
