By Chukwuma Umeorah
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has said that it is working on an identity management system that would ensure that investors and market participants are properly identified to solve the perennial problem of unclaimed dividends which currently stands at N190 billion.
The Director General of SEC, Lamido Yuguda, said this at the two-day Journalists Academy in Lagos organised by the Nigerian Capital Market Institute.
In addition to the identity management systems, Yuguda, said that the Capital Market Committee, under the leadership of the Commission, had embarked on the creation of a new e-dividend portal, which is expected to become operational at the end of November, 2023.
“Once operational, this portal will simplify the process of mandating accounts for e-dividend. This will improve efficiency and ultimately leading to a significant fall in unclaimed dividends.”
The SEC DG, who was represented by the Executive Commissioner (Operations), SEC, Dayo Obisan, emphasized this forms part of the Commission’s efforts advancing internal solutions that align with its mission of effective market regulation.
In tandem with these dividend-related initiatives, the SEC is actively promoting collective investment schemes (CIS) to encourage investor participation and foster growth in the market.
“To manage risk and entrench trust in collective investment schemes(CIS), the Commission mandated that all CIS funds be held in custody.
This has helped the growth of these funds from about N1.1 trillion at the beginning of 2020 to about N2.1 trillion at the end of October 2023.
“We continue to encourage investors, especially those on the retail end, to approach the market through these CIS funds, as they provide investors with the opportunity to have their investments managed by knowledgeable investment professionals,” he urged.
Other efforts by the Commission to improve the market includes Commission’s focus on digitizing and modernizing the market through technology, infrastructure and solutions, Investor clinics conducted by zonal offices to educate investors, and support financial inclusion efforts, collaboration with stakeholders for data centers, connectivity, surveillance system, and electronic registration solutions among others.
The two-day training laid emphasis on the need to improve the capacity of Journalists as they hold a pivotal position in the capital market, informing, educating, and guiding.
“The role of journalists in promoting market transparency, accountability, and integrity cannot be overstated. Your efforts educate investors, simplify complex financial concepts, promote good corporate governance and enhance market confidence.”
The Director, SEC Lagos Zonal Office, Hafsat Rufai, shared an additional dimension to the SEC’s efforts highlighting moves to incorporate capital market studies into the curriculum of students from primary through secondary schools.
This initiative aims to boost financial literacy and enhance students’ understanding of the capital market. She envisions capital market terminologies becoming integral to subjects in schools as she noted that the SEC is actively collaborating with the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council to implement these changes and has already established capital market clubs in some schools.