The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). has says, over S2.6 million shareholders with bank accounts have so far registered for the electronic dividend payment pushed by the Acting director-general of the SEC, Mary Uduk, who disclosed this in Abuja at the weekend, said it will continue to collaborate with relevant stakeholders to sensitise investors on the need to regularise their multiple accounts as well as claim their dividends.
Uduk said the Commission has taken various steps to ensure that shareholders benefit from their investments in the capital market. She said the volume of unclaimed dividend is still huge but the commission is doing a lot to bring it down.
Accordingly, to her, only recently, “in our determination to reduce the quantum of unclaimed dividends in the Nigerian Capital Market and encourage beneficiaries of deceased investors to step up efforts to claim such dividends, the Commission exposed an amendment to our rules which reduced the time, processes and costs of the transmission of shares from a deceased to the beneficiary.
“The timeline for the transmission of deceased’s shares has been reduced from three weeks to one week. Going by that, registrars shall ensure that shares of a deceased are transmitted within a week of receiving the request from the administrators or executors. This effort will ensure seamless transmission and claim of a deceased’s shares by heirs and administrators.’’
Uduk said it is also the quest for investors to get the benefit of their investments that prompted the Commission to release a circular to shareholders of defunct Skye bank to claim all outstanding dividends.
She said sensitisation efforts are going on with other stakeholders to enlighten members of the public on the need to go and claim their shares through regularisation of multiple accounts.
“As I speak about 2.6 million account holders have registered for e-dividend and many can testify that they are getting their dividends promptly” she said.
She also said “SEC has informed shareholders of the defunct Skye Bank that unclaimed dividends declared by the bank are being held in trust on their behalf and urged them to claim their dividends.”
Uduk said the Commission has also directed Cardinalstone Registrars and STL Trustees to ensure that all genuine claims of beneficiary shareholders are addressed forthwith.