CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Both the developed and the underdeveloped countries of the world operate a stock exchange market where securities of various categories are visited for trading. These could be government stocks, industrial loans (debenture /preference stocks) or Equity/ordinary shares. Nigeria, one of the undeveloped, sub-Saharan African economics, is not an exception. She owns and operates a stock exchange called the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) the main focus of this research work. The hitherto, Lagos Stock Exchange (LSE) established in 1960 later became the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in December 1977, with branches in some of the major commercial cities of the country.
Most of the listed companies in the Nigerian Stock Exchange have foreign/multinational affiliations and represent a cross section of the economy, ranging from agriculture through manufacturing to services thus; the Nigerian stock Exchange is directly hinged to the Nigerian economy. To this end, this research work consolidates and brings to the open, the Nigerian Stock Exchanges in the following areas
(i.) Meaning (ii.) History, (iii.) Objectives and function, (iv.) Integrity, (v.) Trading and pricing, (vi) Clearing, delivery and settlement (vii) Stock Market Legislations and regulation (viii) Internationalization of the stock market, (ix) The All – share index and (x) the Impact so far on the economy of the country.
It is no doubt that the Nigerian Stock Exchange fared well in the past decades until the recent global financial crisis hitting adversely on the countries of the world, especially the sub – Saharan African economies including Nigeria; the hitherto stable and smooth operations of the NSE have been slightly shaken, relative to other sub -Saharan African economies such as the democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Botswana and others, by the worldwide financial crisis since late last year (March 11, 2009 Reuters).