Nigeria’s CP market out of lull as Ecobank Nigeria quotes ₦12.53bn worth on FMDQ

After a lull, commercial papers (CPs) are coming back onto the shelf of the Nigerian debt market as Ecobank Nigeria in August quoted N12.53 billion worth on the FMDQ platform, according to the August monthly newsletter of the FMDQ.

The quotation of the N12.53 billion series 2 commercial paper notes under the bank’s multi-currency CP programme is seen a step in the right direction to resuscitate the nation’s CP market.

The FMDQ said it was in liaison with its key stakeholders, to actively put steps in place to aid the resuscitation of the nation’s CP market, to support the growth of the Nigerian economy by providing corporate and commercial businesses the opportunity to meet their short-term funding requirements, which will contribute, in no small measure, to the development of the Nigerian debt market.

“The time to market of CPs registration and quotation, on FMDQ, lays credence to the efficiency of the FMDQ quotations process. The count of CPs admitted onto the FMDQ platform year-to-date stands at twenty-eight (28).

“As with securities quoted on FMDQ, these CPs will be availed global visibility, effective governance, and unprecedented transparency, as part of the value-add provided by the FMDQ Listings and Quotations Service,” the newsletter noted.

It said a formal quotation ceremony will follow in due course.

Meanwhile, $7.60 billion worth of OTC FX Futures have traded so far on the FMDQ platform as 14th Futures Contract Settles on FMDQ in August.

Having ceased trading on August 8, 2017, in line with the OTC FX Futures Market operational standards, the 14th OTC FX Futures contract, NGUS AUG 16 2017, with notional amount $488.33mm, matured and settled on FMDQ on Wednesday, August 16, 2017. This brings the total value of contracts so far matured on FMDQ, the OTC FX Futures Exchange, to $5.44bn, with a total of about $7.60bn worth of OTC FX Futures contracts traded.

The contract was valued against the NAFEX – Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Fixing – Spot rate as published by FMDQ on August 16, 2017, with the associated clearing/settlement effected by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System PLC (NIBSS), in line with the FMDQ OTC FX Futures operational standards.