Stockbrokers condemn publication of new debtors' lists

Most of the stock brokering firms are guilty of diversion of funds. They have deliberately refused to pay up on their loans, blaming it on the market. Please note that stock brokers don't just buy shares with the monies granted them by the banks and keep these shares in a cool place until the market goes bad. The business of a stockbrokering firm is trading and certainly they would have been trading with the monies granted them. The question now is, where is all the profit the must have made? Most have used their profit to buy properties, luxury cars, and kept huge cash in foreign bank accounts etc. They sould bring out some of this profit and pay the banks, even if it means selling down some of their acquired assets.

@ Bola Awe, your definition is actually simplistic and far from the truth for most stock broking firms. I am a broker and many firms were given margin loans by banks to buy shares in most of these banks. However, the banks kept the share certificates as collateral and so they could not be traded until the debts were fully paid. Most stock broking firms have not received dividends from shares purchased as these go directly to the banks to service the loans.

The issue that must be established is that there were manipulations fo shares prices at the time (2007 precisely) and somebody should be held responsible for it. In a civilised countries, proper investigation would have been conducted and some people(or companies) brought to book. Here, anything goes. And the bank, stock brokers, the government and its agenicies, the regulatory bodies are all involved. How can one explain the current situation of Transcorp? They had Govt's backing, called it truly Nigerian mega company. They sold to public shares at N7.50 which is today about N0.50k and we are reading in the newspapers is that they are heavily indebted to many banks and cannot repay. Who are the promoters of Transcorp? Where are those funds raised/borrowed by Transcorp? There should be accountability, people who are entrusted with money should be held responsible. They should be sent to jail, if found wanting !

The target may not be the stock brokers but the generality of the debtors. onigbese is an onigbese, no matter what cloth you may wish to adorn the person. i believe the publication is very bold and revolutionary. You can imagine the calibre of names been dropped, Atiku, Anenih, Dangote, Otedola and a host of others. I tell you never in the history of this country has the sort of thing occurred. If Obasanjo or Yardua name is found in the debtors list, it will surely appear. The senate has even said that they are not going to protect any senator them found in the list. The best thing to do is that the stockbrokers should negotiate with the banks and start paying in something. I believe that if this so called banking reform is done with all sincerity, it will go a long way in resolving many national issues as we may not need to look at any body's face before we sanction or call any law breaker to order.

all those people who contributed to the fall of the stock market with the manipulation of share prices should be made to face the law for financial crimes. they have brought untold hardship to innocent nigerians who embraced the stockmarket without knowing that the stockbrokers were manipulating the prices. EFCC should go after them

@ Idris, you say you are a broker but your arguement is very incorrect. Margin facilities are for the purpose of trading, even if you buy an offer, which will lead to certificate being issued, the certificate can be demateralised and shares sold very easily due to the structure of the margin accounts, mostly special accounts but since you are a broker you know the rest. I believe what you meant to say was that most of the margins issued were taken to purchase the shares of the "Lending Bank" (mop up the shares)and the reason they did not exit was to avoid flooding the market with the shares and causing a fall in the trading price. Why should my savings be used to defend the Bank's market value? Let's please remember that should the banks fail it is depositors who suffer, our savings were given out as loans and the borrowers have defaulted. So long as you can afford to pay staff and meet other liabilities, you should pay your monthly interest on those facilities.

Point of correction on the debtors list.Tony Anenih did not borrow any money from any bank neither is he owing any bank.Mettle Energy,whose CEO is Asemota (who also owns 95% of the shares of the company) borrowed money to buy products from NNPC and NNPC could not deliver the products more than 2 yrs after they recieved payment.Mr Fix It was approached to b Chairman of the Company to give the young men Asemota and Emeka, some mileage with NNPC which did not happen. Tony Anenih does not own any share in the company neither has he recieved any pecuniary benefit from them.This small boy, Sanusi, is playing with the Tail of a Tger and will soon find himself in its belly.

CBN,banks and stockbrokers are jointly liable for the mess we all find ourselves so brokers should not seek to be exonorated.THEY SHOULD PAY ALL THEIR LOANS. AS BANKS SANITIZATION GOES ON,CBN SHOULD BE SANITIZED FOR FAILING TO CHECK THE EXCESSES OF THE BANKS ON TIME AND ALL STAFF OF BANKING SUPERVISION DEPTS OF CBN SHOULD BE SACKED AND PROSECUTED BY EFCC. WHAT IS GOOD FOR THE GOOSE................

The FGN does not need to turn this into a public relations war. It doesn't need the publicity to do a fine job - it is just trying to capitalize on the problem to win suffering Nigerians who are just so simple to trick into forgeting they have problems with roads, power, water, employment and just about everything else. People took what they were allowed to take. Where was the government when the Ololo's were carrying such vast amounts without colateral and throwing them on companies that never made a kobo? citizensfornigeria.com

I am shocked at the response of some nigerians at this issue, I beleive we are our problems and not our leaders, Sanusi has created problems bigger than himself. 1.Firstly the growth in the Nigerian economy over the past few yrs was fuelled by the banks increased lending 2.An economy where govt spending in the real economy is greater than those of the financial services (banks) is not growing simply because wealth is not being created as in the Nigerian case. 3.2008 was the first time banking credit matched the fed. govt expenditure an indication that we were begining to create wealth. 4.Share price manipulation in Nigeria I am concerned becos, I can point to what is wrong in banks giving money to stock brokers to buy its shares, since share buy backs are part of business strategy. A compny that wants to reduce dividend payout may have to buy its shares, increase the price and pay dividend to itself and reinvest the money instead of raising fresh capital. I presume we need to know what the nigerian laws says about this. 5.I guess the confidential relationship btw bankers and customers have been breached by CBN by publishing names of debtors. Investors confidence have been destroyed, now i guess someone like dangote and the likes can decide to put their money in hedge funds around the world and earn 15% on it and still be comfortable and do limited business, since they will not expand, i bet u majority of them will not near any banks for loan again instead they will be borrowing from outside which has already started. 5.The so called audit by Sanusi can be traced back to Soludo's time, I guess people did not understand what the common yr end will have done. It would have exposed the banks that were failing for what they really are. I suppose the extension date was to allow them organise themselves. and then sanusi came. Sincerely speaking if the extended window was not stopped will this banks have gone under? and if the banks were mandate to recover make provision for the bad loans in their books and given three months to recover make their doubtful and sub standard loan performing if they will not have met it. 5. so many issues being raised, I will say Sanusi is either being misguided at best and at worst Mischievous. Arewa consultative forum has set-up a committee to see how the northerners can play a major role in the banking sector of Nigeria, Intercontinental bank performance indices in the north are falling, planning to license smaller banks and regional banks, wen these banks were smaller what was their impact in the nigerian economy..lets keep watching I am not impressed by Sanusi, he was in UBA and we know what happened to UBA they were acquired by a smaller bank, rather still he went out with Hakeem, I nor understand the man sha

a man that refused to plan, will be planned for. Stockbroker are not realistic.

I feel sickened with the way these things are going. CBN has certified this institutions as safe and okay before now. They have at one time or the other, audited these loans and certified them as okay. They and NDIC should be dealt with too cause if they've raised these issues before now, all these madness should not have happened. @Idris, i don't agree with you thet stocks cannot be traded until the loans are paid. I have cases where the borrower wrote severally and even threatened the bank and the stockbroker to sell off the stocks since they've been verified but they didn't till the market crahsed. Would any bank now write to such a customer to come and pay any loan? CBN, NDIC, EFCC etc are not been thruthful to themselves. Has Ogunleye in NDIC resolved the mess the former IG dragged him into? We are not all saints.

In addition to the recent reform in the banking subsector there is the need for a legislation requiring yearly audit and full publication of nonperforming loans in the banking industry and the names of the Debtors. This, for sure, will awaken our conscience and sustainability of the present reform.