The recruitment of a Director-General and Executive Directors for the Nigerian Stock Exchange (www.nigerianstockexchange.com) will be completed by first week of December, according to news reports of the NSE’s 49th Annual General Meeting in Lagos on 23 November.
The NSE’s Interim Administrator Emmanuel Ikazoboh said the appointees will be presented to the Securities & Exchange Commission (www.sec.gov.ng) in the second week of December. However, they will have to be confirmed at an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) of the NSE next year.
The issue of demutualization of the NSE to a for-profit company with shareholders and share capital exchange will be considered. Mr Ikazoboh reportedly said the process will be left to the incoming management team to handle, just as he added that “the SEC is also studying the concept and how it has worked or not in other jurisdictions” across the world.
A motion by Interim President, Bullama Manu to adopt the NSE accounts for the year ended December 2009 had to be put 3 times before it was seconded and adopted, after senior brokers who reasoned that there was need to conclude the meeting, to allow the exchange begin afresh.
Election and re-election of members, including the resignation of 3 council members, was removed from the agenda, after the NSE’s external lawyers advised that there should be no elections until a legal suit was disposed of by shareholders of African Petroleum Plc against Femi Otedola and others. In to form a quorum of properly constituted council for the NSE, the meeting resolved that the bourse should co-opt members to fill the vacancies in consultation with dealing member firms represented by the Association of Stockbroking Houses of Nigeria (ASHON) and stockbrokers through the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS).
According to the reported accounts, gross earnings fell by 78% to N4.485billion (US$29.8 million) from N18.7 bn, out which operating loss stood at N2.5 bn in 2009 from a previous surplus of N2.0 bn.
Mr Manu stressed “fairness to all” was the NSE’s principle and said there is emphasis on ensuring adherence to post-listing requirements and the principles of good corporate governance. He promised greater consultation with stakeholders and hoped that the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) and ongoing financial sector reforms would brighten the outlook. Lawyer, banker and market operator Okechukwu Unegbu praised the NSE management for organizing one of the best AGMs in several years, going by the attendance, free expression and robust contributions.