AMCON takes over Arik Airline on N135bn debt

The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) yesterday, February 9, 2017 took over the management of the embattled Arik Airline over N135 billion debts owed the Corporation. The corporation, which likewise announced the appointment of Roy Ilegbodu, a veteran aviation expert, to take over the management of the airline under the receivership of Oluseye Opasanya,…

2017 Budget: Stakeholders want initiatives to boost capital market performance

Stakeholders in the capital market on Thursday agreed on the need for innovative initiatives that would improve the general performance of listed companies and by extension, the market for a healthy economy.
They said this in a communique at the just concluded seminar, organised by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), on the 2017 Budget in Lagos.
The seminar was titled: “The 2017 Budget of Growth and Recovery: Relevance, implications and Perspectives of the Nigerian Capital Market.”
According to the stakeholders, mostly financial experts, the capital market needs to be further deepened by introducing products that provide hedging opportunities for firms and investors against foreign exchange risks.
“Capital market needs to contribute to the removing of stress witnessed by listed firms as that affects the performance of the stock market.
“Also, accelerating asset classes such as infrastructure funds, infrastructure bonds, retail bonds and derivatives could be re-introduced for the advantage of the investors and capital market operators.
“Capital market shareholders must be actively involved in the advocacy programmes to ensure that government policies do not adversely affect the development of technical market.”
The experts called on government to amend the pension fund laws, to encourage greater allocation to capital market.
“The Federal Government should set specific timelines for identifying assets to be sold and the process which it would be sold. The same should be done to capital market.
”This would encourage efficiency and scarce resources being committed to manage assets.
“There is need to further strengthen and consolidate on the current effort on the investors education, specifically enlightening policy makers and academicians on the role of capital market in economic development.”

Excess Forex demand weighs down Naira

PRESSURES on the external sector seem persisting as outstanding foreign exchange demand on Forwards Contracts is now put at about USD4 billion despite several auctions by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to bring it down.
This was coming as the Naira depreciated significantly for the first time in recent months in the official interbank exchange rate closing at N315/ USD1, as against the stable N305/ USD1 in the past six months, while the parallel market rate still hovered between N498 and N500 to one USDollar.

Meanwhile foreign reserves remained in robust, rising by USD130 million on Friday to hit USD28.2 billion, a development which was expected to moderate exchange rates across all market segments. The apex bank had struggled to erase the backlog of foreign exchange demands since it began the new flexible foreign exchange regime mid last year, injecting over USD5 billion in batches with the latest batch injected last week amounting USD660 million for three-month and five-month currency forwards However, the weekly movements in most dated forward contracts at the interbank OTC (Over-The-Counter) segment suggests future stability of the Naira against the US Dollar. The spot rate for 1 month, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months forward contracts remained stable week-on-week at N305.25/USD, N315.34/USD, N323.27/USD, N331.53/USD and N349/USD respectively amid USD7.5 million in intervention sales by CBN to banks.

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/02/excess-forex-demand-weighs-naira/

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/02/excess-forex-demand-weighs-naira/

This was coming as the Naira depreciated significantly for the first time in recent months in the official interbank exchange rate closing at N315/ USD1, as against the stable N305/ USD1 in the past six months, while the parallel market rate still hovered between N498 and N500 to one USDollar.

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/02/excess-forex-demand-weighs-naira/aThis was coming as the Naira depreciated significantly for the first time in recent months in the official interbank exchange rate closing at N315/ USD1, as against the stable N305/ USD1 in the past six months, while the parallel market rate still hovered between N498 and N500 to one USDollar.

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/02/excess-forex-demand-weighs-naira/

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/02/excess-forex-demand-weighs-naira

GUARANTY Trust Bank Plc, has been awarded ‘Best Corporate Governance, Africa

GUARANTY Trust Bank Plc, has been awarded ‘Best Corporate Governance, Africa’, in the Financial services category at the 2017 Corporate Governance Awards. The event, organized by the Ethical Boardroom Magazine, recognizes outstanding companies who have exhibited exceptional leadership in the area of governance and professional ethics. Over the years, Ethical Boardroom magazine has consistently delivered in-depth coverage and astute analysis of global governance issues.
Over the years, Ethical Boardroom magazine has consistently delivered in-depth coverage and astute analysis of global governance issues.
According to Spenser Cameron, the Managing Editor of Ethical Boardroom: “Deciding upon which African financial services company had scooped the top prize for 2017 was a hard task, considering all the final nominees had excelled and over-achieved in their governance practices over the last twelve months, however, there could only be one winner and that was Nigeria’s very own Guaranty Trust Bank. The West African banking powerhouse has shown the rest of Africa how it’s done by continually placing ethics and integrity at the heart of its business, whilst creating long term value for its stakeholders.” Commenting on the award, Mr Segun Agbaje, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Guaranty Trust Bank plc, said; “We are delighted to be recognized as the Best Bank in Africa for Corporate Governance by a globally renowned and well respected magazine.

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/02/gtbank-named-best-bank-africa-corporate-governance/

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/02/gtbank-named-best-bank-africa-corporate-governance/

Over the years, Ethical Boardroom magazine has consistently delivered in-depth coverage and astute analysis of global governance issues.

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/02/gtbank-named-best-bank-africa-corporate-governance/

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/02/gtbank-named-best-bank-africa-corporate-governance/

Now you can use bitcoin to trade the profit opportunities in Asia

First Global Credit, the first company to bring mainstream profit opportunities within the reach of bitcoin holders, has just added over 50 fast moving stocks from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) to those already available on the bitcoin backed trading portal. The stocks cover not only Hong Kong based companies but will make it possible to hold positions in over 30 mainland Chinese companies that are traded on the HKEX. This innovation follows the successful addition of UK shares that were added to the site last year and was a contributing factor as to why First Global saw an increase in trading of 350% in 2016 over the previous year.
“We see cryptocurrency as a way to provide access to profit opportunities that had previously been the domain of professional or relatively wealthy investors to a much wider audience,” stated Founding Director Marcie Terman. “Through the medium of bitcoin, First Global makes it possible for investors from around the globe including the developing world to have access to profitable trading opportunities that simply would not have been possible before bitcoin.” .
“We are now serving growing numbers of traders in Africa and Latin America, as well as parts of Asia including Indonesia, Malaysia and even Nepal,” stated Terman. This is following the pattern we expected to see where cryptocurrency is adopted more widely in certain jurisdictions where ‘conventional’ market economies exclude all but the most wealthy participants. It is not only through efficiencies in cross-borders payment transactions that cryptocurrency is benefiting the average person,” continued Terman. .
First Global Credit’s goal is to support bitcoin as an addition to the global economy. To become mainstream, bitcoin holders need to be able to use their capital in all the ways one would use fiat. To pay for goods and services, to trade, borrow and invest to generate a return. Our contribution is to give people the ability to retain control of their bitcoins for the appreciation value while using them simultaneously to generate a return from a wide variety of other investments. In this case from trading a broad range of international equities, though the long-term plan is to add services that will not only benefit people who want to direct their investment strategy themselves but also those looking to generate a return through passive investment. .
In addition to stock and futures trading the First Global site also offers the Currency Switch service which allows bitcoin to fiat trading with some significant benefits over ordinary bitcoin exchanges. Gavin Smith, First Global Credit CEO explains, “Currency Switch works on the premise that it does not matter if you are holding your trading collateral in fiat currency or bitcoin. This allows clients to take advantage of bitcoin price moves while simultaneously trading other markets. So, if a trader identifies an impending decrease in the price of bitcoin they can quickly move their capital into dollars, sterling Swiss francs or euros without needing to cash out of their stock and futures trades. First Global clients have a distinct edge over other bitcoin holders because they can extract profit from their capital in two ways at the same time.” .

Countdown: Bitcoin Will Be a Legal Method of Payment in Japan in Two Months

Bitcoin will soon be legally recognized as a method of payment in Japan. The bill with provisions for cryptocurrencies has recently passed through the period of public consultation and will enter into force in April.

Bitcoin’s Other Legal Considerations in Japan

While usage as a payment method should not be affected whether bitcoin is legally considered a ‘currency’ or not, Kawai explained that, from a legal standpoint, there are some considerable differences.
“For instance, if they are defined as “currencies”, lending of VCs must comply with Money Lending Control Act (which requires lenders to register as “Moneylenders”) and VCs’ derivatives must comply with the Financial Instrument Exchange Act”, he described.Some other countries have classified virtual currency as an asset or property for tax purposes such as the U.S. Recently, Israel has issued a draft which considers Bitcoin an asset, therefore imposing Value Added Tax (VAT) as well as capital gains tax on bitcoin transactions.

However, for Japan, this bill does not define virtual currency as “property”. Instead, virtual currencies are defined as ‘proprietary value’, Kawai contrasted, adding that “a precedent of Tokyo District Court denies the concept of having ‘property rights’ of Bitcoin”. Furthermore, “it is not uncertain what is the legal nature of proprietary value in Japanese civil laws”, he clarified, adding that “I do not expect that the government is leaning towards proactively considering it as “property”.

Dubai has partnered technology giant IBM to launch a blockchain initiative for trade finance.

The government of Dubai has partnered technology giant IBM to launch a blockchain initiative for trade finance.
Announced today, the project could prove telling in its impact with shipments and transactions of goods in one of the world’s major trading hubs. Dubai’s geographical proximity has established the Emirate as a hub for shipments between Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
A number of private companies are involved in the project, given their involvement in trade finance transactions. Dubai’s largest bank Emirates NBD is a part of the project, as is Spanish banking giant Banco Santander. UAE-based telecom provider ‘du’ is also participating, with a background in blockchain technology development through a recent healthcare initiative to store patient records on a blockchain shared between UAE hospitals. Freight forwarded Aramex, a major player in the logistics and shipping industry is also involved in the trade finance test, along with an unidentified international airline carrier.

The initiative will be led Dubai Customs, the official customs authority of the Emirate and Dubai Trade, an e-trade services hub, both of which are agencies of the Dubai government.