Capital Market Operators task financial advisers on NSE demutualisation

Some capital market operators on have tasked Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) and Chapel Hill Denham (CHD) to ensure transparency in the demutualisation process of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

They stated that the financial advisers should ensure that all the parties were carried along in the exercise.

The operators spoke on the heels of the appointment of RMD and CHD as financial advisers to the exchange demutualisation.

Demutualisation is a process whereby stock exchanges transform into public limited liability companies and by implication, a profit-making organisation listed on itself and any other exchange around the world.

A former President of the Chartered Institute of Brokers (CIS), Mr Ariyo Olushekun, who described the appointment as a step in the right direction, called on the financial advisers to ensure a smooth exercise.

Olushekun said that operators were counting on the financial advisers to improvise action on the exercise and protect the interest of parties involved.

“The exercise should be properly structured before being presented for consideration or approval to the NSE,” he said.

The Managing Director of APT Securities and Funds Ltd., Malam Garba Kurfi, urged the financial advisers to ensure due process in the exercise.

Kurfi said that the advisers should not disappoint the market operators because they were known companies with track record and integrity.

“We believe they know the intrigues of the exercise and they should identify the rightful owners and what percentage that gets to each owner,” Kurfi said.

He said that the financial advisers should liaise with the National Assembly for review of the law governing the establishment of the NSE to pave way for the demutualisation programme.

The NSE had on Tuesday announced the appointment of RMD and CHD as financial advisers for its proposed demutualisation programme.

The statement said that the appointment followed a rigorous and extensive selection process.

It said that the selection began with a Request for Proposal process which started on March 11, 2014 where qualified financial consortia were required to submit expressions of interest.

RMB is the corporate and investment banking arm of FirstRand, one of Africa’s largest listed financial services groups.

Chapel Hill Denham is a leading Nigerian investment bank that provides financial advisory services to domestic and international corporations, institutions, governments and individual clients, investing in Africa.