SEC approves 7 NGX’s Derivatives Contracts

..Approval boosts West Africa’s first Exchange Traded Derivatives

The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) on Friday announced approval for seven derivatives contracts from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A derivative is a contract between two or more parties whose value is based on an agreed-upon underlying
financial asset or group of assets. Common underlying instruments include bonds, commodities, currencies,
interest rates, market indices and stocks. The basic principle behind a derivative contract is to earn profits by speculating on the value of the underlying asset at a future date.

The approved contracts are: Access Bank Plc Stock Futures, Dangote Cement Plc Stock Futures, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc Stock Futures, MTN Nigeria Communications Plc Stock Futures, Zenith Bank Plc Stock Futures, NGX 30 Index Futures, and NGX Pension Index Futures.

This announcement follows the successful registration of NG Clearing by SEC, as a premier Central
Counterparty, effective 7 June 2021.

Derivatives are used as a risk management instrument, and are suited to both professional and private investors who wish to hedge an open position or gain exposure to assets and markets without necessarily holding the underlying assets. ETDs are variants of derivatives traded on an organised securities exchange as against those other derivatives traded through informal over-the-counter (OTC) market.With these approvals, NGX appears to be inching closer to launching West-Africa’s first Exchange Traded Derivatives supported by NG Clearing in the risk management process.
Chief Executive Officer of NGX, Mr. Temi Popoola, CFA, noted that, “The launch of the derivatives market aligns with our commitment to build a market that thrives on innovation and responds to the needs of stakeholders in accessing and using capital. We are, therefore, excited about the prospects of deepening Africa’s position in the global financial markets through ETDs, as well as enhancing liquidity and mitigating against price, duration and other financial risks that may arise from sophisticated financial transactional activities.”

NGX has collaborated with both local and international organisations, including SEC, JPMorgan Chase, CBOE Options Institute, and NG Clearing to facilitate in-depth capacity building programme on the derivatives market.
Through its learning and development arm, X-Academy, NGX hosted trainings to prepare capital market players wishing to undertake the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment UK Global Derivatives
qualification exam.

Prime Business Africa gathers that it also plans to host further trainings for other stakeholders in the near term.