CSCS Harps on the Role of Tech in Boosting Capital Market Activities

The Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc has stated that technology would play a key role in deepening Nigeria’s capital market.

Mrs Onome Komolafe, the Divisional Head, Business Services and Client Relations, CSCS , said this during a panel session with the theme: ‘Bank Recapitalisation: Bridging the Gap Between Investors and Issues in the Nigerian Capital Market’ at a workshop for Capital Market Correspondents held recently in Lagos.

Komolafe noted that the Nigerian Central Securities Depository has launched several tech interfaces to ease transactions in the capital market.

She said, “In terms of technology, in the last five years, CSCS has deployed a lot of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs.) Let me not bore you about what APIs are, but a lot of infrastructure that enables brokers to be able to interface with the market without necessarily coming to CSCS.

“Today, you can do your account opening for your client from the comfort of your office. You don’t have to come to CSCS for most of this because different portals have been deployed. If you want to submit documents to CSCS, you don’t have to be there. So, we’ve deployed a lot of APIs to the market for self-service options.”

On the level of acceptance of the deployed technological innovations, Komolafe stated that the market has been receptive even as they were seem to be some concerns on the part of the CSCS over attempts to shorten the settlement time.

“This is a market that started at T+5 but today we are T+3, and we’re engaging actually to reduce the settlement period. So first, we’ll talk about much of the reduction in the settlement cycle that has happened.

“You will see that we can’t do much if we don’t have the right technology and CSCS    has deployed technology. The market has accepted most of the technology from account opening from a direct cash settlement, reduction of settlement cycles, cybersecurity, and everything that CSCS has brought to the market has been accepted, and that’s why we see this evident transformation in the market”.