Market makers’ seek to know all brokerage firms handling buying, selling of MTN shares
As industry analysts continue to dig deep into why the listing of MTN Nigeria shares apparently become controversial shortly after the Free Float entry model, stakeholders and key market makers’ are currently seeking to observe the list of all brokerage firms that handle the buying and selling of MTN shares.
Recall that two weeks ago, MTN Nigeria listed by introduction its 20.4 billion units on the NSE at N90 per share.
A key stakeholder, who spoke to our correspondent on ground of anonymity, revealed that the sudden demand is part of moves to prove to the general public that its allegiance lies with them and not the powers that be. Otherwise, industry pundits want the names of all brokerage firms that were involved in buying and selling MTN Nigeria’s shares between May 16 – May 22, 2019.
Giving an insight, leading market analyst and Jude Fajoku, told a reporter with The Guardian (not Business Hilights) that the “Free float worldwide is all about quantity of shares and not about market valuation. Let us go back to the basics. The NSE should remove this rule amendment immediately, ‘the value of its free float is equal to or above N40 billion on the date The Exchange receives the Issuer’s application to list.’
“The price of a company’s stock should not be brought into the free float discussion. The core and only matter should be number of shares freely available to trade relative to total outstanding shares. Amend the rules so that any company with an intended or expected listing market value in excess of $500 million (N180billion), can only list by IPO.
Fajoku decried that “Listing by Introduction will not be allowed for companies with listing valuation expected to exceed $500 million. The NSE and SEC should never have approved a listing for MTN by introduction. The regulators had the leverage as this is an involuntary listing and they let it go to waste!”
“MTN Nigeria is dominating the Nigerian telecom industry; has a dominant stake on the NSE (20%), and is dominating the headlines in scandals ranging from disobeying regulatory directives, exporting cash to its parent market without required documentation and underpaying taxes by $2 billion to the Nigerian tax authority. MTN Nigeria has sued the Attorney-General of Nigeria for N3 billion in regards to the underpayment of taxes accusation. The cycle of serenading the bad and vilifying the good in Nigeria appears to be alive and well.
In the last two weeks, MTN had been on hot seat over the matter with the anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) paid the head office a visit last weekend with no form of explanation to the public on the reasons behind the visit till today.
Fajoku averred that combined with aspersions of market followers and the EFCC visit, the unfolding scenario may have added the new entrant to the long list of what is wrong by action but however espousing what is right by words after all.
