By Omobayo Azeez
The federal government of Nigeria has appointed CSL Stockbrokers Limited, a subsidiary of FCMB Group Plc, as its new stockbroker.
The appointment of the firm, as recently announced by the Debt Management Office (DMO) followed an open competitive bidding process in which other stockbrokers participated.
With the appointment, CSL Stockbrokers now has the mandate to execute all transactions of the federal government on the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE).
According to the DMO, this includes, posting bid and offer prices of government securities, supporting the DMO’s objective of promoting trading of federal government securities on the exchange and attracting more retail investors to the domestic capital market.
CSL Stockbrokers, rated as one of the top five stockbroking firms in Nigeria, provides institutional and corporate brokerage services to investors and select issuers.
At the heart of the firm is a robust research platform which supports local and international investors who desire in-depth coverage of the Nigerian capital market and the economy.
In a statement, the DMO said as government stockbroker, CSL Stockbrokers is mandated to build upon the achievements already recorded by increasing the participation of retail investors in all federal government securities, such as bonds, sukuk, savings bond and green bonds listed and trading on the NSE.
The DMO added that, “the appointment of CSL as the Government Stockbroker is a further demonstration of the commitment of the DMO to the development of the domestic market, in particular, promoting liquidity, as well as, growing and diversifying the investor base’’.
Commenting on the appointment, Abiodun Fagbulu, the chief executive officer of CSL Stockbrokers, described the development as another milestone in the commitment of the firm to be the investment management services provider of choice in sub-Saharan Africa, driven by deep market knowledge and global standard investment management expertise.
“CSL Stockbrokers consider this appointment as an opportunity to contribute to the growth and development of the domestic capital market in a way that is sustainable and profitable to investors,” he said.
