FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange (FMDQ or the OTC Exchange), Nigeria’s foremost debt capital, currencies and derivatives-focused OTC securities exchange has a strategic focus to ensure all its Members and their Authorised Representatives are appropriately sensitised of its market development, regulatory and governance mandate towards engendering greater compliance and professionalism in the Nigerian financial markets.

Driven by this mandate, FMDQ identified the need to conduct Induction Programmes for all its Members’ Authorised Representatives (MARs) in a bid to formally introduce the Authorised Representatives to FMDQ’s markets, systems, processes, standards, regulation, etc. that support the OTC Exchange’s raison d’etre. MARs are employees or such other persons as may be authorised by an FMDQ Member to perform activities on its behalf on the OTC Exchange, and cut across the value chain functions in the Nigerian financial markets including but not limited to treasurers, dealers, compliance officers, treasury operations staff, treasury sales staff, risk officers and control & audit staff. The ultimate aim of these Induction Programmes is to provide the participants in the FMDQ markets with a holistic view of the OTC Exchange’s dual functions as a market organiser and self-regulatory organisation, as well as create a clear understanding of FMDQ’s value proposition, membership benefits, market development, regulation, and governance initiatives, inter alia.

Consequently, the inaugural Induction Programme was held on Wednesday, July 26, 2017, for the first set of MARs of the Dealing Member (Banks) as grandfathered by the Financial Markets Dealers Association. The theme of the inaugural session was “The Evolution & Importance of Governance and Regulation in the OTC markets”. Welcoming the inductees to the Programme, Ms. Jumoke Olaniyan, Associate Vice President, Market Achitecture, FMDQ, informed the MARs that the aim of the Programme was to essentially bring regulation closer to the market participants whilst the Vice President, Corporate Planning, Ms. Kaodi Ugoji gave a brief introduction on the evolution of FMDQ, FMDQ’s vision, mission, core values, value propositions and Global Competitiveness, Operational Excellence, Liquidity and Diversity (GOLD) Agenda.

Also present at this landmark event, was the representative of the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mrs. Bukola Rufai, the Head of the Operations Directorate of SEC’s Lagos Zonal Office, who gave brief but incisive remarks highlighting the need to foster a culture of compliance and professionalism amongst participants in the Nigerian capital markets.

Guest speaker at the event, Mr. Zeal Akaraiwe, the Chief Executive Officer of Graeme Blaque Advisory, provided clarity on the core factors critical to regulation in the OTC markets which include, transparency, risk management and harmonisation, highlighting that the success of governance and regulation in the OTC markets typically depends on the regulator’s ability to strike a seamless balance between these factors.

The inaugural Programme, which was well attended by the MARs was a highly engaging and interactive session which provided an avenue for the MARs to ask pertinent questions regarding their day-to-day operations, interact and engage in meaningful debates in order to contribute towards the development of the FMDQ franchise and the financial markets as a whole. To conclude the Programme, certificates were presented to the MARs for successfully completing the Induction Programme.

FMDQ shall continue to leverage on the opportunity to engage and collaborate closely with its participants and key stakeholders in order to deliver value to the OTC markets as well as its mandate to develop the Nigerian financial markets, through empowerment sessions such as the Induction Programme.