CBN unveils phased overhaul of fixed income market to boost transparency

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced a phased restructuring of the Nigerian Fixed Income Market as part of sweeping reforms to strengthen transparency, improve efficiency, and reinforce regulatory oversight across the country’s financial ecosystem.

In a circular signed by Okey Umeano, Acting Director of the Financial Markets Department, the apex bank disclosed that it will assume full control of both the settlement process and the trading platform for fixed income transactions beginning November 2025.

According to the CBN, this transition will allow the Bank to manage the trading environment directly while handling end-to-end settlement of fixed income instruments within its established financial market settlement system.

“This transition will enable the CBN to assume direct responsibility for the management of the trading platform and handle end-to-end settlement activities under the Bank’s established settlement system for financial market transactions,” the statement read.

To minimize disruption and ensure market stability, the reform will be implemented in carefully sequenced stages, with active involvement of key market stakeholders, particularly the Financial Markets Dealers Association (FMDA). The milestones for the first phase include:

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User Acceptance Testing (UAT): Scheduled for the second week of October 2025, to test the proposed settlement infrastructure.

Pilot Phase: A transitional phase to run alongside the current system, ensuring operational stability and user adaptation.

Go-Live 1 (Settlement Process): Full migration of fixed income activities to the new CBN settlement system, starting November 3, 2025.

Go-Live 2 (Trading Platform): Launch of the new CBN-sponsored trading environment for Primary Dealers, Market Makers (PDMM), Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs), and other approved market participants on December 1, 2025.

The apex bank emphasized that the reforms are designed to “strengthen market integrity, streamline operations, and establish a unified regulatory framework that ensures end-to-end visibility and supervisory oversight of fixed income transactions.”

Acknowledging the FMDA’s central role in market development, the CBN called for continued collaboration, stressing that stakeholder input would remain critical throughout the transition.

“We look forward to your continued partnership as we work together to deliver a more efficient, transparent, and resilient fixed income market,” the Bank stated.

The CBN assured participants that the transition would be coordinated to avoid disruptions and would ultimately serve the broader interests of market stability and economic growth.

The overhaul of the fixed income market is the latest in a series of regulatory reforms introduced by the CBN to strengthen Nigeria’s financial system. Just last month, the apex bank directed all Domestic Systemically Important Banks (DSIBs) to adopt early succession planning for Managing Directors/Chief Executive Officers (MD/CEOs) and top executives.

Under that directive, signed by Dr. Rita Sike, Director of the Financial Policy and Regulation Department, DSIBs must secure regulatory approval for the appointment of a successor MD/CEO at least six months before the expiration of the incumbent’s tenure. The move, according to the CBN, is aimed at bolstering corporate governance and reducing leadership uncertainties that could undermine financial stability.

By consolidating oversight of the fixed income market, analysts say the CBN is positioning itself to better support monetary policy transmission, strengthen market resilience, and drive long-term economic growth.