Quote:
Originally Posted by compengr
Hi All,
Please I really need advice on this issue:
I'm outside the shores of Nigeria and I'm trying to get an online account with CSCS. I applied online (though I'm not sure of the CSCS number for reasons stated below) and a friend of mine has paid =N=2,500 into their GTBank account for me, BUT I'VE NOT HEARD ANYTHING FROM THEM AND I'VE CALLED SEVERALLY BUT AFTER THE INITIAL AUTOMATED VOICE, NO ONE ANSWERS THE PHONE. THE CSCS NUMBER MY BROKER GAVE ME SEEMS TO BE DIFFERENT FROM THE ONE CSCS ISSUES (theirs have some alphabets combined with numbers, but the one my broker sent me has only numbers.) CAN ANYONE PLEASE CLARIFY??
I sent a mail to my broker on this and this's what he said:
"I study people and learn how to go along with them. You are a very sceptical person the best way to handle you is to guide you along that same mindset. I will only object to your choice if it will lead to financial disaster.
.....CSCS special account is best suited for somebody resident in Nigeria. I will not be in a position to follow-up with your payments and ensure that you are activated to enable you use the facility. This also applies if there is any issue arising from its usage."
What does he mean by ".....CSCS special account is best suited for somebody resident in Nigeria."
Thanks in advance.
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I hope you intend to address the rudeness of your broker. It's your money and you can protect it as you deem fit. This is not a professional response and you can go elsewhere.
Be that as it may the broker provided true information but not in a nice way. Opening a special account means your brokers loses all flexibility to manage your shares. You need to send signed mandates to CSCS to release a specific number of your shares for your broker to sell. There is no electronic option here so if you are abroad this poses a real problem if you are a short term investor. It also introduces a delay even if you are in Nigeria.
This account is not meant for only high net worth investors but it is recommended for such high net worth investors and they should be in Nigeria if they intend trading at short notice.
Why is it recommended for high net worth? Look at it this way. An investor may own 10 Million naira worth of stocks in one company and decide to 'release' 2 million naira worth that can be sold at short notice and lock away the remaining 8 million naira worth. You can plan this in advance if you have large volumes. Investors with small volumes tend to send everything at once which defeats the purpose of the special account unless you are willing to accommodate the delays.
Frankly the idea is to prevent a broker from selling a stock without your consent so when you asked your broker for the account he/she becomes defensive thinking you doubt they can be trusted.
An alternative. It should be possible to access your CSCS account via your broker account. In my own experience with BGL this is possible so I don't have to open a CSCS account myself. I cannot access other functions available if I open an account of my own but I only need to see my positions. I can automatically navigate to my CSCS account via my BGL account. This way I am sure that the shares BGL listed on my account are actually cleared to my CSCS account. Cashcraft also has a link to your CSCS account but when I was with them it never displayed my holdings. Another reason for me to dump them and move to BGL.
Don't other brokers provide this facility? I believe most people only want to be sure of the positions of their stocks at CSCS and not to prevent unauthorized sale by brokers which is what the special account is for. With the normal CSCS account you will know if your broker has bought or sold your stock at any point in time. You know brokers can "borrow" you stock and return later. You cannot stop if from happening with the normal CSCS account but at least you know and you can act after the fact. With the CSCS special account you can stop it from happening in the first place but you lose all flexibility as well.
Enjoy.
Pumping.
14th August 2007, 10:17 PM
