THE ABUJA SECURITIES & COMMODITY EXCHANGE (ASCE)
The Abuja Securities & Commodity Exchange(ASCE) was originally incorporated as a Stock Exchange on June 17, 1998.It commenced electronic trading in securities in May 2001 and was converted to a commodity Exchange on August 8, 2001 and brought under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Commerce.The conversion was premised on the need for an alternative institutional arrangement that would manage the effect of price fluctuations in the marketing of agricultural produce which has adversely affected the earnings of farmers since the abolishment of commodity Boards in 1986.Attempts to establish a Commodity Exchange and Futures market in the country dates back to 1989 when an Inter-Ministerial Technical Committee was set up at the behest of the Central Bank of Nigeria to look into how a Futures Exchange for agricultural commodities could be established to address frontally the agro-commodity marketing problems.
The Exchange will be of immense benefits to farmers, agro-commodity processors and merchants, as it will serve as a veritable platform for them to mitigate the inherent risks in agricultural production and marketing. The enlarged market for agricultural produce, which the ASCE will engender, shall promote commercial farming and the growth of the agricultural sector.The Exchange will start operations in spot and forward markets and gradually introduce trading in warehouse receipts and eventually evolve into a futures market trading commodity futures and options. It will trade contracts in agricultural produce, solid mineral products, energy, financial indices and currencies.The Exchange will commence spot trading on agricultural commodity contracts in July 2006 and later in the year launch spot trading on solid mineral contracts.
Corporate Governance
The ownership and management of the Exchange are completely separated from the right of a trading member to trade on the Exchange. The Exchange has a Board of Directors, which determines policy matters of the Exchange as a company. Market decisions relating to operations are delegated by the Board to the Council, which includes representatives of the promoting institutions, members of the Exchange, commodity associations warehouse operators/collateral managers, clearing banks and other financial institutions. The Council of the Exchange shall operate through four standing Committees; Membership and Finance Committee, Trading Committee, Clearing House Committee and Arbitration and Vigilance Committee.All the committees shall have established rules and regulations governing their operations and shall meet from time to time on cases relating to each of them and make recommendations to Council for consideration and approval.The membership of the Exchange is comprised of ordinary trading members, intuitional trading members, and ordinary members.The day-to-day management of the Exchange is delegated to the Managing Director/CEO.
