The Association of Securities Dealing Houses of Nigeria (ASHON) has charged its members to commence adopting new business strategies to enable them cope with the emerging challenges and peculiarities of the operating environment and reposition their entities for improved competitiveness in the investment market.
The Chairman of the association, Mr. Sam Onukwue, gave the charge during the association’s just ended Annual General Meeting (AGM) for the 2021 fiscal year.
The investment experts also advised the members to ensure timely implementation of new business models in order to broaden their operational scope with a view to delivering superior products and services to their customers.
The chairman said: “We came into office some six months after the demutualization of the erstwhile Nigerian Stock Exchange, which signalled a paradigm shift in the operating focus of the Exchange. This also redefined our status from dealing members to trading license holders and shareholders as well as necessitated some adjustments to our operating model. It, therefore, became imperative for us to be proactive in guiding our members.
“To this end, the Council organized a retreat themed: “Rethinking the Business of Securities Dealing in a Changing Market Structure”. Participants at the retreat, included council members, trustees, and past chairmen of ASHON. In the retreat, the need for our members to reposition, restructure and upscale their businesses to cope with post-demutualization challenges was identified. The role and impacts of technological advancement on our businesses were critically noted”, Onukwue added.
Speaking on the association’s activities for the year under review, the experts recalled that the leadership trade group engaged with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on sundry issues in the nation’s investment space, including the jacking up of the renewal of annual registration fees of Capital Market Operators (CMOS), participation in the commission’s Financial Literacy Committee and holding quarterly meetings with Central Securities Clearing Systems Plc, and NG Clearing, amongst others.
He maintained that the group continued to maintain a cordial working relationship with the NGX Group, despite the changes in its operating models as a demutualized exchange and had been working with NASD PLC, FMDQ, and Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange (LCFE) for hitch-free trading by its members on the platforms of the various markets.
In addition, he explained that the Association had sustained its collaboration with the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS) on various issues affecting the capital market operations, including the CISI Bill, review of the ISA Act, reintroduction of Capital Gain Tax (CGT), and admission of CFA holders among others.
Onukwue pointed out that in order to make the group strong in the demutualized Exchange voting, the leadership of the ASHON was already working on a voting trust arrangement.
This is even as he hinted that association had been playing active roles in the ongoing initiative of African Stock Exchanges on the African Exchanges Linkage Project.
