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By Isaac Anumihe
Following a groundswell of agitations for the payment of unclaimed dividends that have accumulated over time, registrars of companies in the Nigerian capital market have paid over N29 billion to investors that have not been able to claim their dividends.
Briefing newsmen on the third and last Capital Market Committee Meeting (CMC) for the year 2016 and the performance of the market in the past three months, the Director General of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mounir Gwarzo, directed that by end of June 30, 2017, registrars of companies should stop issuing physical dividend warrants to shareholders.
He said that the E- dividend platform has recorded a lot of positive changes as against what it was before now.
Gwarzo explained that the total payment of N29.274,739.64 was made between November last year till date, pointing out that the commission was able to achieve this milestone through the advocacy work of all the stakeholders in the market, that was taken to all the nooks and crannies of the country.
“This is the best the industry has done”, he said, while commending the contributions of the banking sector and the registrars for their support in ensuring the success of the platform.
He noted that the e- dividend platform is for the good of retail investors and the industry operators in general, assuring that the commission is poised to end the story of unclaimed dividend in the capital market.
In a statement, the DG noted that incentives and time extension that was put in place to encourage investors in embracing the e-dividend scheme will continue until the market achieved 100 per cent e-dividend transition.
However, on the circular concerning the establishment of Nigerian Capital Market Development Fund (NCMDF) which will take care of all unclaimed dividends that is above 12 years, Gwarzo noted that a committee has been set up to work out its modalities for the trust fund, adding that without pre-empting the committee which is reviewing the Investments and Securities Act (ISA) and the Companies and Allied Matters Acts (CAMA), it will decide if it’s appropriate to allow investors to forfeit their dividend once it’s above 12 years or leave it to perpetuity.
Recall that the apex regulator in the capital market last year July formally launched the e-Dividend Mandate Management System (e-DMMS) in conjunction with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and all Deposit Money Banks to address the issue of unclaimed dividends in the capital market.
In his remarks, Head, Vertical Markets Group from the Nigerian Inter Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), Samuel Oluyemi, said the e-DMMS portal utilizes NIBSS’s robust document management system to which the e-dividend mandate forms filled by the investor can be uploaded. He explained that the e-dividend form could be obtained and properly filled at bank branches or in the office of a registrar and stock broking firms.
On demutualization of share certificate, he said they have achieved 98.9 per cent success and about less than three per cent of the certificates have not been demutualized.
The SEC DG however said he is optimistic that in the next three months they will be looking at 100 per cent success of demutualization of share certificates in the country.
