Lagos, Nigeria – 25th, July, 2011 – Access Bank Plc, a full service commercial bank with headquarters in Nigeria and operations across Sub-Sahara Africa and the United Kingdom has announced the launch of Nigeria’s first online foreign exchange dealing service to support its growing corporate and institutional client base. Access FX is an innovative product that provides corporate and institutional customers online access to executable foreign exchange rates across a wide range of currency pairs in spot, swap and outright forward contracts. The service is delivered to the bank’s customers via secure internet straight to their browser and allows the bank’s customers to trade their foreign currencies from the convenience of their homes and offices anywhere in the world. Announcing the new service, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, Group Managing Director/CEO, Access Bank said “With the launch of Access FX, we are continuing to deliver on our promise of service excellence and innovation to our esteemed customers. We believe this product also affirms our reputation as the dominant trade finance bank in Nigeria”. He added that the introduction of Access FX is a demonstration of the bank’s quest to continuously elevate its service standards. Velsys Chairman and CEO Kevin Ashby noted that Velsys had worked closely with Access Bank to create a solution using Velsys’ V-FX trading product to meet the specific needs of the bank and its clients. “We look forward to expanding our relationship with Access Bank with a continued focus on enhancing the trading experience for clients”, he said. Access Bank was recently admitted into the membership of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA). The bank is the first Nigerian and indeed African bank member of the elite of association (excluding South Africa). Membership of the association includes world's major institutions such as JP Morgan Chase and Co., Deuctshe Bank AG and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Chartered in 1985 with about 800 member institutions from across 54 countries, the International Swaps and Derivative Association has pioneered numerous initiatives aimed at identifying and reducing the sources of risk in the derivatives and risk management business. The association’s membership is also extended to global businesses, governmental entities and other users that rely on over-the-counter derivatives to efficiently manage the financial risks inherent in their core economic activities. According to a report by Bloomberg, “initial estimates are that there could be in excess of 200 entities that will seek to register as swap dealers”. Of ISDA’s 830 members, 209 are primary members’. Under ISDA’s bylaw, a firm is only eligible for primary member status if it deals in derivatives for purposes other than ‘risk hedging or asset or liability management.”