The Association of Stockbroking Houses of Nigeria on Monday said, judging by the level of trainings organised so far, stockbrokers would be ready for the new trading platform the Nigerian Stock Exchange planned to introduce.
The President, ASHON, Mr. EmekaMadubike, said this while speaking to our correspondent about the plan.
The NSE recently announced plans to introduce a new multi-product trading platform called X-Gen, which it said would not only enable its dealing members to grow their business, but allow the investing community to experience a more efficient market when buying or selling securities.
Speaking with journalists in Lagos after an expo organised in preparation for the inauguration of the platform, the Chief Executive Officer, NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema, had said the platform would likely be introduced before the end of the third quarter of the year.
According to Madubike, not only will it be possible to inaugurate the platform by then, the stockbrokers are eager to see it put to use.
He said, "All things being equal, it is very likely. We are prepared; everybody is going through training.
"There is training every day and the training is from 8am to 5pm. And two batches (of brokers) are trained every day. So, as of last week, we have done over 80 per cent. The plan is such that at the time the platform is introduced, most people would be ready."
He described the system they were being trained with as broker-friendly, adding that the stock brokers were very excited about it.
In terms of the cost stockbroking houses would incur to upgrade their facilities, he said, "There are different aspects of it; there is the hardware aspect and there is the software aspect. So, we are dealing with different issues and it depends on the outcome of the collective arrangements we are making."
He, however, said considering the fact that stockbroking houses had opted for a collective bargaining arrangement, the cost was going to be reasonable.
The Chief Executive Officer, Trust Yields Securities Limited, Mr. Ola Yussuf, expressed optimism that the introduction of the new platform would go according to plan.
He said, "Don't forget that the stock exchange is not doing it alone; from the inception, we have been working together and even during the acquisition and installation (of the system) and all of that were involved. So, we are prepared as the NSE is."
"So, I don't think there is going to be any problem of transition. We started this process many years back and we all know the cost implication and we have all prepared ourselves for it. This is something that has taken three or four years to plan."
