Central Securities Clearing System to get substantive CEO next month

The Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc will name its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) next month, Oscar Onyema, chairman, CSCS Plc said at its 23rd annual general meeting held Wednesday at the Nigerian Stock Exchange event centre.

Onyema said the board of CSCS engaged the services of PwC, the world’s leading professional services firm in the selection process.

Since this year, CSCS Plc which facilitates the delivery (transfer of securities from seller to buyer) and settlement (payment of bought shares) of securities transacted on the approved Nigerian Exchanges has been functioning with an interim Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer.

CSCS Plc enables securities to be processed in an electronic book-entry form thereby substantially reducing the period it takes a transaction to commence and end.

Recall that the Board of Central Securities Clearing System Plc in December 2016 named Adebola Adeeko as interim Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer effective January 3, 2017.

Adeeko has continued the great work of his predecessor Kyari Bukar who resigned his appointment ahead of his contract expiration to pursue other interests.

CSCS Plc has successfully established strategic alliances with peer Central Securities Depositories (CDS) within the region and beyond, with the objective of gathering intelligence on best practices and products to ensure that it sustains value creation for its customers.

“These alliances have proven to be good investment of time and resources, and we look forward to applying the learnings to improve our business,” Onyema told shareholders at the meeting.

The 2016 financial scorecard shows the group recorded a decline in gross earnings from N7.6billion in 2015 to N6.17billion in 2016. Also, profit before tax (PBT) declined to N3.72billion in 2016 from N5.02billion in 2015. Total Assets, as at December 31, 2016 stood at N27.07billion, representing an increase over the N25.40billion recorded in 2015. The board of directors got shareholders’ approval to pay a final dividend per share of 21kobo.

“Our people are the nucleus of our business and we are committed to ensuring that we recruit and retain the best in class employees who can deliver on the company’s goals and objectives as we strive to position CSCS as the globally respected and leading CSD in Africa,” Onyema said.

Adeeko holds a Master in Business Administration (MBA), majoring in Finance & Marketing from Hood College, Maryland (USA) and a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree in Accounting from Ogun State University, Nigeria. He is an alumnus of Harvard Business School at the executive education level. Adeeko is a lifetime member of the Institute of Directors (IoD) Nigeria and a Board member of the IoD Centre for Corporate Governance.

“The foundation for any company that wants to be built to last is to have a business model that actually supports that objective,” Adeeko told shareholders.

“The Pension Contribution Management System (PCMS) is another one of CSCS’ firsts which would be beneficial to both formal and informal businesses. The system is currently in use by our company and other companies that agreed to be part of our test participant forum to efficiently manage their employees’ pension contribution. The PCMS will be fully available to the market before the end of third-quarter (Q3) of 2017,” the chairman added.

Iheanyi Nwachukwu