Photo/the-star.co.ke
The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday forced to suspend trading of the Sh150 million mobile phone-based bond due system breakdown.The moved is said to have been initiated in oder to avoid fraud.The trading of the bond stopped just 24 hours after it was launched.According to business daily, the action was taken after reconciliation delays which are seen to make it possible for investors who had placed sale orders to receive payment while still retaining ownership of the papers were discovered.“Secondary trading of M-Akiba has been temporarily stopped due to a communications hitch between trading and depository systems, which caused delay in settlement of trades,” a senior Treasury official said.The Treasury raised Sh150 million through the mobile phone-based three-year M-Akiba bond days before the offer closed on April 5.This pilot digital bond sale was meant to test the waters and whet the appetite of investors ahead of the Sh4.85 billion offer which President Uhuru Kenyatta is expected to launch in June.