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Book Review - Financial Intermediation: Operations and Practice

Capital Market	1369 VIEWS
Capital Market
1369 VIEWS

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Wednesday, July 22, 2020 / 06:57 AM / By Bola Ajomale* / Header Image Credit: ecographics

Being a book review by Mr. Bola Ajomale, CEO NASD delivered at the virtual book launch of "the capital market guide book titled 'FINANCIAL INTERMEDIATION: Operations and Practice' authored by Seye Adetunmbi, the Chief Responsibility Officer of Value Investing Limited and the convener of Capital Market Roundtable in Nigeria; on Tuesday, July 21, 2020.

Book Details

Title: Financial Intermediation: Operations and Practice

Details: A Guidebook for financial Market Operators, Regulators, Stockbrokers, Investment Bankers, Investors and Students of Economics, Business Management, Law, Accounting, Banking and Finance

Author: Seye Adetunmbi

Publisher: Mindscope Africa, June 2020

ISSN: ISBN. 978-978-968-287-4

Access: http://linkedin.com/in/seye-adetunmbi
amazon.com/author/seyeadetunmbi
https://mobile.twitter.com/eletolua

The Review

This excellently printed and produced book succeeds as a chronicle of the pivots and tools of the Nigerian Capital Market. Each of the 319 pages has at least one of three qualities:

a thoughtful gem of wisdom on the Nigerian Capital Market;
a major revelation of why, who or how?; and
a wistful recollection of an era past.

The book will appeal to a wide range of perspectives;

Analog stockbrokers from the call over days such as this reviewer
New entrants to the industry with an eye for the future
Students of all business disciplines
Market analysts and reporters.

Even non-market operators would be beguiled with the picture spread in the middle and the seventeen (17) quotes from Warren Buffet. This reviewer however found the quotes a bit distracting - partly due to the poignancy of each quote; but sometimes because the average reader may struggle to relate each quote to the particular chapter it introduced.

But that's where the fun and games end: - Undoubtedly, the book is a serious deep dive into the development of the Nigerian Capital Market.

Sections I and II introduces the evolution and structure of the market and its operators. They read like a lumpy school textbook until you realise that they efficiently lay the platform for strategies and best practice recommendations discussed in Segment III.

Section IV provides some relief. The reader is adroitly led through a simple structure of some existing derivatives and funding options. Not really going too deep into the subject matter but a nod to the possibilities these instruments may bring into the Nigerian Capital Market.

A careful observation of the book reveals that the 15-page photo story forms a needed recess from "Capital Market History Class" and the commencement of an honest, sombre soul search of the Nigerian Capital Market. The first two chapters of part 2 captures the hopes of a determined forward-looking market operator in the early 2000s.

Chapter 12 for example, ends with the hope that "this should have a multiplier effect on the economy vis-a-vis employment and increased productivity"

Chapter 13 promises "...and this too shall pass over"

Sadly, both statements are stark contrasts to current realities and Readers would be forgiven for mistaking these to be the words of an inherently well-intentioned but terribly inept soothsayer.

Chapter 14 is one of my favorites - possibly for being a cheerful dawn after a very dark night. It however brings even more conflict of emotion from a totally different perspective through a very brief lecture on the Pension Industry written in 2005.

Readers will experience a sense of pride on how the Pension Industry success has far outstripped expectations followed by a realisation and sense of regret that they did not position to ride the rise of that tide even closer! A kind of "Aghh, it happened before our very eyes o!" effect.

Proshare Nigeria Pvt. Ltd.

It is unusual to find words of true love in a volume of this nature but Seye inadvertently lets his guard slip in chapter 15 to declare his passion, hopes, appreciation and jealousy for his "indisputably endowed" object. His genuine offer of a long-term relationship to join his object of desire on a long journey is both romantic but interlaced with pragmatic solutions to problems they might encounter along the way. His emotive conclusion uses the word "appeal" twice; and this was not his first attempt to get her to see things his way - he thanks her twice for allowing him to come "once more, this year" to state his case. Only a truly dispassionate reader can resist rooting for the author in his quest to move Ekiti State to prosperity. Only patriotism of this honesty can truly benefit this nation.

Moving quickly through the authors recollections of the 10^thASEA conference and some random musings in Chapters 16 and 17, readers are jarred with a dissertation on the "Impact of the 2008 global meltdown" on the Nigerian Stock Market in Chapter 18. This is truly a deep academic exercise that rewards the patient, the inquisitive and the analyst. It answers the question "where did all the money go?" and extrapolates the effect of the market crash on Nigeria's GDP.

Conclusions from the coefficients and regression analysis are certainly worth the study.

Mr Adetunmbi closes his book with an excellent collage of quotes from seasoned influencers in the market. The disciplined execution of any of the initiatives proposed will dramatically change the landscape and fortunes of the Nigerian economy. The Chapter also lightly touches the coming on stream of 2 additional securities exchanges - the FMDQ and NASD OTC Securities Exchange with the suggestion that these exchanges have raised the ceiling of, and deepened the Nigerian Capital Market.

Overall, Seye has written a fact-based background of the Nigerian Capital Market with events dating back to 1946 and the commencement of the Lagos Stock Exchange in 1961 with the trade of three preference shares. More than a mere historical treatise, it identifies structural problems such as Nigeria's inverted yield curve and the impending threat from FDIs. Readers will certainly commend his tenacity in pulling together such an array of talent and be heartened with the optimism expressed.

I conclude that it has been an honour to review this valuable source of information for anyone interested in the Nigerian Capital Market.

It is a detailed memorial of the efforts of the many Nigerians who shaped the landscape and definitely a great addition to any operator's library.

Congratulations Mr Seye Adetunmbi. Well Done!

Proshare Nigeria Pvt. Ltd.

About the Book Reviewer

Mr. Bola AJOMALE - Bola is the pioneer Managing Director of NASD PLC. Bola is a highly versatile investment and financial adviser with over 20 years' cognate experience in the finance industry both locally and internationally. He trained as an accountant in Ernst & Young and as a stockbroker in City Securities Limited where he headed Stockbroking operations. He expanded his research and financial advisory skills at Agusto & Co where he was a Senior business consultant. His international exposure includes various project and investment advisory work at Manulife Financial and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board both in Canada.

Bola read Economics at the University of Leeds (UK). He is a Fellow and member of Council of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and a Member of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investments (CISI UK) where he is the inaugural National Advisory Council President.

Mr. Ajomale sits in a non-executive capacity on the Board of Directors of several non-public companies and is a Trustee of the Association of Securities Exchanges of Nigeria.

Proshare Nigeria Pvt. Ltd.

An Extract from the Foreword to the Book - Atedo N. A. Peterside, CON

"The very detailed book by Seye Adetunmbi is a Collectors' item for those interested in the broad history of financial intermediation and detailed history of the Nigerian capital market. The book is also a text book because it delves into theory and practice. Not often that one finds history, theory and practice rolled into one. The theoretical underpinnings of various financial instruments are revealed and discussed effortlessly and day-to-day practices are rolled in from an experienced practitioner's point of view.

The book is clearly a practitioner's guide, as it is replete with practical titbits that are difficult to find even in the most detailed manuals or templates of active capital market operators.

A practical guidebook and a reference manual that contains phenomenal details that practitioner's do not need to memorise. They only need to know where to find such information when needed.

The author's capacity for meticulous details shines through most of the paragraphs.

The book is a compendium of past landmark articles and presentations by the author who has addressed various types of audiences across Africa.

The book ends with titbits from Nigerian capital market operators in conversation on various controversial or topical matters. The contributions reveal the complexity of problems faced by operators and challenges thrown up by the economy through periods as diverse as the 2008 global financial crisis to later oil boom years and then to lean years ushered in by collapsed oil and commodity prices.

All in all, the book will feed a variety of appetites. There is something in there for a diverse audience comprised of students, historians, academics, practitioners including both capital market operators and the clients that they serve, be they issuers or investors in securities."

Attendance

The Chairman of the zoom presentation was Dr Alimi Abdulrazaq, the Chairman of Forte Oil - Upstream Services Limited while the Special Guests of Honour were Mr Atedo Peterside, Chairman of ANAP Foundation and Dr. Uduimo Justus Itsueli, Chairman of Dubril Oil Limited. The Chief Presenter of the Book was Chief Dele Fajemirokun, a distinguished entrepreneur of international repute. The Lead Presenters included Senator Ibikunle Amosun, former Governor of Ogun State and Chairman, Senate Committee on Capital Markets; Mr. Kayode Alabi, Deputy Governor of Kwara State and Mr Gboyega Alabi, the Deputy Governor of Osun State. The Special Guests that graced the launch included Alhaji Lamido Yuguda, the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms Yewande Sadiku, the Director-General of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, Mr Oscar Onyema, the Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Stock Exchange, Ms Arunmah Oteh, former Director-General of SEC and Mr Tunde Amolegbe, President of Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers. The Book Reviewer was Bola Ajomale, the CEO, NASD Plc. The event was Moderated by Olufemi Awoyemi, Founder of Proshare.