By Goddy Egene
The Registrar-General/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Alhaji Garba Abubakar, has expressed excitement at the demutualisation of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), saying the commission is eager to see the new entities that would emerge from the exercise and how they would support the economy and investors.
Abubakar, stated this when the NSE hosted him to the digital Closing Gong Ceremony in Lagos yesterday.
“We are glad that the demutualisation of the exchange is coming to a close and we are eager to see the brand new entities that will act with different mandates to support the economy and investors,” he said.
He added that it was the responsibility of the CAC to provide an enabling climate that supports the efforts of the government to improve the ease of doing business not only in registering new businesses but in fulfilling post-registration activities.
“To this end, we began the implementation of CAMA 2020 on 1 January 2021 and we have deployed a new technology solution that supports the full implementation of the law. Our enlightenment on the new CAMA is ongoing and we will continue to engage our stakeholders,” he said.
In his comments, the CEO, NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema, said the exchange has remained a committed partner to the CAC over the years.
“We are particularly proud of our collaboration during the legislative process of the Company and Allied Matters Bill which led to the signing into law of CAMA 2020, and our recent collaboration with the CAC – along with other stakeholders – to host a public presentation of the newly upgraded CAC Online Registration Portal. We note this success and commend the CAC for its reform initiatives even in challenging times. The exchange is also grateful for the dedicated support of the CAC in the final stages of the ongoing NSE demutualisation exercise which will see the exchange unfolding into a structure that takes full advantage of business opportunities in line with its growth strategy into the future,” he said.
Meanwhile, the stock market continued its bearish trading as the NSE All-Share Index declined 0.34 per cent to 41,564.31, while market capitalisation shed N74.4 billion to be at N21.7 trillion.
Consequently, the year-to-date (YTD) return declined to 3.2 per cent. Activity level waned as volume and value traded fell 29.4 per cent and 52.7 per cent respectively to 340.3 million shares and N2.6 billion. The most traded stocks by volume were Union Bank of Nigeria Plc (78.8 million shares), FBN Holdings Plc (54.2 million shares).
