SEC to keep engaging registrars, stakeholders to resolve unclaimed dividends

By Chinwendu Obienyi

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has disclosed that the Commission is engaging relevant stakeholders in a bid to resolve issues of identity management which will assist in solving the rising unclaimed dividends in the capital market as well as other issues. 

The Director-General of the SEC, Lamido Yuguda, pointed out that part of the problems of unclaimed dividends has to do with identity management, saying the Commission is currently engaging the registrars’ stakeholders and increasing investors’ education to stem the trend.

Identity theft is a fraudulent practice of using another person’s name and personal information to obtain shares, credit, loans among others.

Yuguda stated this during a presentation of the 2022 budget of the Commission before the House of Representatives Committee on Capital Markets and Institutions in Abuja, Tuesday. 

According to Yuguda, the Commission has set up an identity management committee to harmonise various databases of investors and facilitate data accuracy in the market. He said the committee comprises the SEC, the registrars, the stockbrokers, the issuing houses, the CSCS, and NSE, in addition to the e-dividend management committee.

Yuguda said the committee’s assignment would address the challenges of identity management and help tackle some of the issues of unclaimed dividends, direct cash settlement and multiple subscriptions.

“We have engaged with the industry to see where the issues are. We have understood the problem better and we are working in collaboration with them to ensure that by the end of the first half of 2022 we will be able to report back to this committee some of the milestones achieved in solving some of these issues and we believe it will have a massive impact”.