NSE Demutualisation Receives Boost as Court Sanctions Scheme of Arrangement
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (“NSE” or “The Exchange”) is pleased to announce that the Federal High Court, Lagos has now granted an order sanctioning the Scheme of Arrangement for the demutualisation of NSE.
Commenting on this development, the Chief Executive Officer of NSE, Oscar N. Onyema, said: “The NSE demutualisation process is moving ahead in line with the expected sequence of events, following the conclusion of its Extraordinary General Meeting and Court Ordered Meeting (COM) in March 2020. Understandably, in current circumstances, some of the legal and regulatory steps required have taken a little longer than originally expected, but today we have received court sanction for the results of the EGM, in particular, the Scheme of Arrangement and we are looking to secure the reregistration of the Exchange as well as the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission within the coming months.”
Members of the NSE had approved the demutualisation scheme of The Exchange at an EGM in March 2017. This was followed by the signing of the Demutualisation of The Nigerian Stock Exchange Bill into law in August 2018. In December 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Nigeria in a No Objection letter, gave its consent to the NSE to hold the COM and EGM that would facilitate its conversion from a not-for-profit entity limited by guarantee into a profit-making, public limited liability company owned by shareholders.