FMDQ Dealing Members’ Report: Banwo & Ighodalo emerges ‘Most Active Solicitor’

Top Nigerian corporate and commercial law firm, Banwo & Ighodalo, has been declared “The Most Active Solicitor” in the opening quarter of 2020 for the listings and quotations of Fixed Income Securities on the FMDQ Securities Exchange.

The listing excludes bonds and treasury bills issued by the Nigerian government.

This declaration is contained in the FMDQ’s Financial Markets Review Report, detailing the performances of primary markets sponsors and registered solicitors in the period under review with respect to the total corporate bonds and commercial papers (CPs) listed and quoted on the Exchange.

According to the report, obtained by The Guardian, a total of four issues of bonds valued at ₦136.75 billion and 25 issues of CPs valued at ₦296.41 billion, were recorded in Q1 2020. The report further shows that only 12 of the Exchange’s registered dealing members were the sponsors responsible for the securities listed and quoted.

In the FMDQ Fixed Income Primary Market Solicitors’ League Table – a ranking of the top capital market solicitors of the ranked debt securities listed and or quoted on the Exchange – for Q1 2020, six registered solicitors actively participated in the bond and CP markets for the period. They were Aluko & Oyebode, Banwo & Ighodalo, G. Elias & Co, P.O Akinrele & Co, Solola Akpana & Co, and Udo Udoma & Belo Osagie.

Banwo & Ighodalo topped the Solicitors’ League Table for advising on the largest securities issued in Q1 2020, specifically participating as a solicitor for both bond listings and CP quotations with a total market participation value of ₦112.47 billion and ₦208.37 billion respectively.

The current ranking is a testimony of the firm’s sterling performances and several awards of excellence won over the years. The firm and its lawyers are constantly grouped in Tier 1 in its practice areas by the most popular rankings, including Chambers Global, The Legal 500 EMEA, IFLR1000, Who’s Who Legal Directories, Euromoney Guides, and the International Trademark Association Directory.

Reputed for its creativity as a law firm constantly positioned at the cutting edge of legal solutions, Banwo & Ighodalo was awarded the “Most Innovative in Legal Services” in 2017 at the maiden edition of BusinessDay’s Top 25 Most Innovative Companies & Institutions in Nigeria Awards.

With specific reference to capital market transactions, Banwo & Ighodalo won the FMDQ’s “Debt Capital Markets Solicitor” for two years consecutively, in 2017 and 2018, and received the prestigious “Capital Markets Team of the Year Award” at the 2018 Law Digest Africa Awards. The firm’s Capital Markets’ partners and associates remain the most sought-after and are ranked in Band 1 across globally recognised rankings in 2020.