The Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), has invested the pioneer Chief Executive Officer of Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), Mr Mustafa Chike-Obi, as an Honourary Fellow of the institute.
In his acceptance speech during the Investiture ceremony in Lagos, Chike-Obi appreciated the Board of Fellows and the entire Council members of the Institute for the great honour and said he had always regarded himself as a stockbroker.
Need for Margin lending: He pledged to work with the Institute to initiate moves to re-open discussion on margin lending in the Nigerian capital market.
According to him, he was ready to work with the Institute to reopen the processes that will make margin lending work in the capital market. He said:
- “With margin lending, the Nigerian capital market in addition to all the recent achievements and regulations can bounce back again. Margin lending will increase the volume of transactions in the market. It will create hedging opportunities and value propositions. Until we do that, we are going to be a stone-age capital market. This is not for just equities but debts as well.
- “Now that I am an honourary Fellow. I shall devote time and effort to supporting the market. We shall make sure that margin lending is a reality in Nigeria in the next two years.”, Chike-Obi said.
Justification for investiture: Meanwhile, the CIS President, Mr Oluwole Adeosun, extolled the virtues of Chike-Obi as a thoroughbred professional and commended his continuous support to the growth and development of the economy.
He explained the justification for conferring honourary fellowship of the CIS to deserving people, saying:
- ” The Governing Council of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers, in its wisdom a few years ago, decided to admit into our membership community, persons who have distinguished themselves as thoroughbred professionals of the calibre deserving of being a Stockbroker. As a result of this Council resolution, ten eminent Nigerians have been admitted as Honorary Fellows of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers, out of which seven have been invested. Today, we have gathered here to celebrate yet another true icon of the Nigerian corporate community who is being admitted into the CIS family.
- “Mustafa Chile-Obi has the perfect foundation to be a success in the capital market. He graduated First Class Bachelor’s in Mathematics, from the University of Lagos. He is also a graduate of the prestigious Stanford University Graduate School of Business. He was the inaugural Chief Executive Officer of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (“AMCON”) where he served between 2010 -2015. As we all know, AMCON was established in 2010 to efficiently resolve the non-performing loan assets of banks in Nigeria. It is on record that, during his 5-year tenure in AMCON, Mustafa Chike-Obi performed outstandingly and led AMCON to meet its mandates to a significant extent.
- “It is reputed that Mustafa Chike-Obi created the Treasury-Department concept in Nigerian banking and headed the first such department in Nigeria at Chase Merchant Bank, 1980 – 82.”
What you should know: Margin lending provides liquidity from the cash end. It was in vogue in the Nigerian capital market until it was suspended due to its controversial deployment by some market operators and banks at a point.
In 2015, the Nigerian Exchange Limited launched Securities Lending and Borrowing (SLB) in the Nigerian capital market to boost transactions. Unlike margin lending, securities lending entails the loaning of shares, bonds, or derivative contracts to other investors or firms to provide liquidity. But the concept has not been fully embraced.