The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it will assume direct oversight of the settlement and trading platform of the country’s fixed income market by December.
The FMDQ Group currently operates the fixed income market.
The move is part of the apex bank’s ongoing reforms to enhance transparency, efficiency, and regulatory oversight, according to a circular dated September 29, signed by Okey Umeano, CBN’s acting director of the financial markets department.
This, the regulator said, will reposition the fixed income market as “a critical enabler to support monetary policy transmission and the growth of the economy”.
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The policy change is expected to allow the CBN to take direct responsibility for the management of the trading platform and handle end-to-end settlement activities under its established settlement system for financial market transactions.
The CBN said the reforms will be rolled out in stages to ensure stability.
According to the apex bank, the end-to-end testing of the new settlement process “will take place in the second week of October 2025”, after which “a pilot phase will run concurrently with the existing structure to guarantee operational stability”.
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“Subject to satisfactory completion of the pilot, the full migration of fixed income settlement activities to the CBN platform is scheduled for November 3, 2025,” the circular reads.
“The activation of the CBN-sponsored trading environment for primary dealers, market makers, pension fund administrators and other authorised participants is targeted for December 1, 2025”.
The CBN said the initiative would strengthen market integrity, streamline operations, and establish a unified regulatory framework that “ensures end-to-end visibility and supervisory oversight of fixed income transactions”.
The apex bank called for the cooperation of the Financial Markets Dealers Association (FMDA) in the transition, acknowledging its role in shaping Nigeria’s financial markets.
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The CBN said it is fully committed to the continued development of the fixed income market.
The financial regulator said it will ensure that the changes are implemented in a coordinated manner to avoid market disruptions in the best interest of market participants and the broader financial system.
