LAGOS, March 28 (Reuters) - A triumvirate of reformers at the head of Nigeria's central bank, its Securities and Exchange Commission and its state-run "bad bank" has turned Nigeria's financial markets inside out over the past 18 months.
Some analysts question whether they will continue to enjoy political support and such a free rein after nationwide elections next month. [ID:nLDE72M0ZA]
Following are profiles of the three reformers.
CENTRAL BANK GOVERNOR LAMIDO SANUSI
-- Lamido Sanusi, 49, won an international reputation as a reformer because of the bailout of nine commercial banks just weeks after he took the helm of the central bank in 2009. Many bankers say this saved the financial sector of sub-Saharan Africa's second biggest economy from the brink of collapse.
-- Sanusi sent shockwaves through the corporate establishment, sacking the chiefs of eight of the banks and in doing so felling pillars of Nigeria's financial aristocracy, who had long seen themselves as beyond the reach of regulators.
-- His fierce independence and readiness to tackle vested interests stem partly from his status as the grandson of the 11th Emir of Kano, one of the most powerful traditional rulers in Nigeria; his royal lineage appears to help him cut through the turbulence of Nigerian politics.
-- He was highly respected before joining the central bank, having served as the chief executive of First Bank <FIRSTBA.LG>. Prior to that he was chief risk officer at First Bank and at United Bank for Africa (UBA) <UBA.LG>, two of the country's largest lenders.
-- Sanusi has degrees in economics and Islamic law from Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, northern Nigeria, where he taught economics before going into banking in 1985.
-- He has regularly spoken out about the need to fight corruption, not only in the financial sector but in the political system in Nigeria, winning him powerful enemies at home as well as friends in the international investment community.
SEC DIRECTOR GENERAL ARUNMA OTEH
-- Within months of taking office, Oteh announced tighter financial market regulation including stricter requirements on everything from corporate disclosure to capital raisings.
-- Nine months into her tenure, she sacked the head of the stock exchange and suspended its chairman in what she said was a move to restore investor confidence amid a raft of governance concerns. The outgoing bourse chief's political connections had long made her seem untouchable.
-- Before taking the helm at the SEC, Oteh served as a vice president of the African Development Bank from March 2006 and prior to that as its director of treasury. Previously, she worked in corporate finance, consulting, teaching and research; she holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.
-- Oteh has regularly spoken about her vision of Nigeria's capital markets as a pillar of the country's efforts to finance badly needed new infrastructure.
AMCON CHIEF EXECUTIVE MUSTAPHA CHIKE-OBI
-- President Goodluck Jonathan asked former Wall Street investment banker Chike-Obi to head the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, a state-owned "bad bank" which absorbs non-performing commercial bank loans, in September 2010.
-- Chike-Obi moved quickly to buy bad loans from the distressed banks rescued in Sanusi's bailout as well as margin loans industry-wide. AMCON expects to have issued 1.5 trillion naira (${esc.dollar}10 billion) worth of bonds by the end of March in return for bad loans, and to have recapitalised the nine rescued banks by the end of June.
-- Before coming to AMCON, Chike-Obi was founder and managing partner of Madison Park Advisors, a financial consultancy based in the U.S. state of New Jersey and specialising in hedge fund and private equity investment advice.
-- He previously held senior positions in Wall Street firms including Goldman Sachs, Bear Stearns and Guggenheim Partners.
-- Son of celebrated Nigerian mathematician and opposition politician Chike Obi, who came close to finding a proof for Fermat's Last Theorem, he graduated from the University of Lagos with a first-class degree in mathematics and has an MBA from Stanford business school. (For more Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://af.reuters.com/ ) (Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Andrew Torchia)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
