By Henry Oduah
Reporter
Matters are now to be settled in court between former Ecobank Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Arnold Ekpe, and the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE)in the latest turn of events in their stock market dealings.
Ekpe’s suit is a head turner as hetries to recoup some of the money lost in the deal involving his stockbroker, Victor Ogienwonyi, head of Partnership Securities Limited (PSL).
His combined losses is believed to be in excess of N4 billion, which Ecobank was exposed to when he was CEO.
He reportedly took an uncollateralised N4 billion loan from the bank but is aggrieved the NSE did not takeprecautions to protect his interest in the deal.
However, NSE Head of Corporate Communications, Olumide Orojimi, hit back at Ekpe for delay in notifying the NSE of questionable acts in the deal.
“Why would an investor receive more than 70 alerts of sale of shares, not receive any transfer of monies to his account and wait three months before contacting the NSE?
“Why would an investor mandate his broker to sell shares at a particular price and what he was selling was short and not complain?”,Orojimi queried.
Partnership Investment Companies (PIC) and PSL are yet to be reinstated to the stock market after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) suspended both firms from all capital market activities.
The companies were suspended after Ekpe petitioned market regulators that the broker diverted the proceeds of his Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) 90 million shares valued at N1.237 billion sold at N16 per share.
Ogienwonyi has since been on the radar of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Both the management and board of the bank are ruing the huge loss over the stock market deal now gone awry. They still have their eyes on the bank’s huge exposure which they are resolute to recover.
Ecobank Group Chairman, Emmanuel Ikazoboh, disclosed in an interview published in TheNiche on February 12 that the bank would do all it can to recover its loss partially or in full.
His words: “What I can tell you as chairman of the board of the Ecobank Group is that Partnership Investment Company Plc is also owing Ecobank.
“The shares in question are Ecobank shares, so most of the assets being referred to by the owner of the shares sold, and which he said he will hang unto were all used as security for the loan he took from Ecobank.
“So as far as we are concerned those assets are under our control and at the appropriate time we are going to foreclose on them. It is not that it will cover what he is owing us, but at least it will cut our losses.”
The NSE is struggling to restore investor confidence following revelation that Ogienwonyi, one of its major brokers, allegedly diverted a client’s proceeds of shares into his private business, despite several rules to guard against such malpractice.
The market, which has been consistently declining since the recession, may suffer further setbacks if investors fear the NSE cannot guarantee the safety of their investments.