Dr Sarah Alade on Friday retired as the Chairman, FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange following her retirement from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Alade was the CBN representative on the board of FMDQ.
Alade announced her retirement at the FMDQ fifth Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos for the year ended Dec. 31, 2016.
She told shareholders that she would be replaced as the Chairman by Mr Joseph Nnanna, CBN Deputy Governor.
Alade commended the shareholders of the company, her fellow board members, the staff and management of FMDQ for according her the pleasure of serving them.
“It is a privilege to lead the FMDQ Board since 2014, barely eight months after the launch of the OTC Exchange onto the Nigerian financial markets, the time has come for me to say goodbye, as I will be retiring from the board effective April 28, 2017,’’ she said.
She said that the exchange was in a strong position in spite the fact that 2016 was a tough year for all Nigerian businesses.
Alade stated that FMDQ was able to sustain its growth by continuing to explore new opportunities to expand and enhance its activities, markets and reach.
She said that the company in the last three years had steadily transformed to the foremost debt capital and currencies of OTC exchange in the Nigerian market, with a set of diversified product range and market infrastructure.
According to her, this expansion is clearly noticeable in the listings and quotations business seeing a total of 27 debt securities, amounting to N233.98 billion listed and quoted on the exchange.
She said that Naira-settled OTC FX Futures – an innovative product that was introduced by the CBN in July to provide hedging opportunities for businesses and individuals who wished to cover their FX exposures remained active in 2016.
“The OTC FX Futures product has since proven to be a reliable solution for users, with a total value of 5.02 billion dollars worth of contracts traded on the OTC Exchange as at the end of December, out of which circa 1.53 billion dollars matured and settled,’’ she said.
Alade said that on the listings and quotations front, 2016 was a busy year for the OTC Exchange, with the listings and quotations of a total of 27 debt securities, 18 Commercial Papers (N123.54bn), seven bonds worth N107.80 billion and two funds (N2.64 billion).
She said that the company in 2017 would focus on standardisation of repurchase agreements trading with collateral management.
Alade added that FMDQ would develop the non-interest finance (Sukuk) capital market and ensure the implementation of debt capital markets development project, among others.
Speaking on the financial performance of the company, Mr Bola Onadele, the Managing Director said that 2016 was a very challenging year.
Onadele said the challenges in the Nigerian financial markets, particularly, the foreign exchange market, resulted in a 1.71 percent decrease in FMDQ’s total revenue to N2.04 billion from N2.07 billion in 2015.
He, however, stated that FMDQ was able to diversify its revenue sources resulting in an increase in the contribution of non-transaction fees to total revenue from 20.56 percent in 2015 to 32.29 percent in 2016.
He said that in 2017, the OTC Securities Exchange would focus on among others, the diversification of products offerings to include consolidation of OTC FX futures, the introduction of new derivative
products such as fixed income, interest rate and currency derivatives.
Onadele added that the company pursued the establishment of a central clearing house to enhance the credit risk management standards and the introduction of post trade services to the OTC cash markets.
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