A number of key stakeholders in Ghana’s financial market have collaborated to set up the Ghana Fixed Income Market (GFIM). The stakeholders include the Bank of Ghana, the Ghana Stock Exchange, the Central Securities Depository Ghana Ltd (CSD), the Ghana Association of Bankers (GAB), ACI Ghana (association of bank dealers) and Licensed Dealing Members (LDMs) of the Ghana Stock Exchange.
Purpose
The GFIM’s objective is to provide a fair, orderly, transparent and efficient market for all fixed income and similar securities as well as bring secondary trading activities in fixed income securities in Ghana to international best practice standards. The principal functions of GFIM will be to approve the admission of all fixed income securities (including government and corporate) and other similar securities and to provide a market for the secondary trading of such securities.
Securities
All Government of Ghana treasury bills, notes and bonds and Bank of Ghana money market instruments are to be admitted and traded on the GFIM. In addition, quasi-Government of Ghana institutions’ money market instruments, notes and bonds; corporate notes and bonds; municipal and/or metropolitan bonds; supra-national bonds; repos; and other fixed income or money market securities may be admitted and traded on the GFIM.
Dealers
Trading on the GFIM shall be limited to an entity that is licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission to deal in securities and in addition:
(i) authorised by the Bank of Ghana as a primary dealer (PD); or
(ii) licensed by the Bank of Ghana as a bank; or
(iii) licensed by the Ghana Stock Exchange as an LDM.
The Bank of Ghana, for monetary policy purposes, shall be permitted to deal in Government of Ghana and Bank of Ghana securities listed on the GFIM.
Infrastructure
Secondary trading of securities on the GFIM will be by way of an electronic trading and market surveillance system provided by Bloomberg L. P. Cash settlement of trades will be done through the Bank of Ghana while securities settlement will be done at the CSD.
Governance
The GFIM will be governed by an eleven-member governing committee to be chaired by the first deputy governor of the Bank of Ghana. There will be representatives from GSE, CSD, GAB, ACI Ghana, the Ghana Securities Industry Association and the Bank of Ghana and the Debt Management Division of the Ministry of Finance on the committee.
Commencement Date
The estimated go-live date for the trading of fixed income securities on GFIM is end June 2015.
Issued in Accra, this 27th day of May, 2015
