Financial literacy, awareness, can help reduce unclaimed dividends — NGX

Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) has said that a mix of financial literacy and awareness can help to reduce the growing number of unclaimed dividend in the capital market.

This is coming after efforts by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to tackle rising unclaimed dividends in the nation’s capital market have continued to hit a brick wall. According to the commission, unclaimed dividends in the Nigerian capital market had risen to N190 billion from N180 billion recorded in 2021.

Reacting to this development at a recent retail investors webinar themed; How to Process Outstanding Dividend, the Divisional Head, Capital Markets, NGX, Jude Chiemeka, noted that some retail investors are unaware of the backlog of unclaimed dividends that have accrued to them over many years, especially those investors with legacy investment held on their behalf.

Whilst adding that the webinar — held in collaboration with Futureview Asset Management Limited — is aimed at providing procedures to investors, especially the retail segment on how to process outstanding dividends and retrieve unclaimed dividends, Chiemeka said a mix of financial literacy and aggressive awareness can help to reduce unclaimed dividends in the market.

He also added that the Exchange remains committed to utilising technology to optimise intermediaries and increase access to the market for retail investors.

He said, “To this end, we have established a digital gateway to democratise access to the market, reduce friction and drive retail participation in the capital market.”

Chiemeka assured that the SEC would continue to work assiduously with stakeholders to reduce the cases of unclaimed dividends in the market to the barest minimum.