By Babajide Komolafe

There are indications that management of the Nigeria Stock Exchange acted independently of the Council of the Exchange  and the broking community when it banned broking and research firms from distributing or using the market data of the Exchange. Vanguard investigations reveal the ban came  as a surprise to Council members as it was yet to be discussed their meetings.

Investigation also revealed that the brokers, who are onwers of the Exchange were also not consulted before the  ban was introduced.  Last week, the some of the affected firms sent email messages to their client saying they would no longer be sending market information as they have been banned from doing so by the Exchange.

“Sequel to the directive from the Nigerian Stock Exchange mandating operators in the Nigerian Capital Market to stop daily distribution of capital market information to clients and investors, we shall temporarily suspend the mailing of our Closing share prices, Nigeria Daily Stock Market Report and other market reports pending the resolution of the newly introduced licensing directive by the NSE”, said one of the firms.

The management of the exchange  however defended the ban, insisting that those using its market data for professional and business purpose should pay for the data, as it is done in the stock market of other countries.

“It is normal practice for global Stock Exchanges to charge for this type of market data use to cover some of the huge cost incurred in generating, storing and disseminating the data, which incidentally is also a key element of their intellectual property rights.

Indeed, market data sales account for a sizeable portion of the income of many global Exchanges. We have however offered a discounted fee for our broker/dealer firms and the domestic professional end of the market, to facilitate improved access and priced the service competitively in comparison to other Stock Exchanges.

We have also taken steps to ensure that the retail end of the market can continue to access some of the key market data information at no cost via our web and electronic mail services using the above links,” the Exchange said in a statement signed by the Dante Martins, Head Corporate Corporation, the management of the Exchange.