The Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) has stated that the Commission is working to ensure it reduces the level of unclaimed dividends to zero per cent in the Nigeria financial market.
This was disclosed by Alhaji Lamido Yuguda, the Director-General, In an interactive session with the press on Tuesday in Lagos.
As of December 31, 2021, unclaimed dividends have increased to N180billion, according to Yuguda. Although N180billion in unclaimed dividends is a sizable sum, according to Yuguda, it represents only 5 per cent of the total amount of dividends announced in the entire capital market.
Alhaji Lamido Yuguda said, “That is a large amount, but when you compare that with the total amount of dividends declared in the Nigerian capital market, these unclaimed dividends amount to about five per cent of the total amount of dividends declared.
“Although, five per cent is still not the ideal number, it should be zero per cent. Every person, who has come to the capital market and invested money, should be able to get his dividends as and when due.”
He added that the SEC is collaborating with other industry stakeholders, including the Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS), to solve the issue of unclaimed dividends.
“The SEC has been working with CSCS, Registrars and the stockbrokers to make sure that every market appraisal makes it easy for the clients to fill their mandate form. We are also making sure that investors continue to get their dividends,” he added.
He also said that the Federal Government intervened last year by enacting a Finance Act on Unclaimed Dividends Fund.
He said, “The government is looking at unclaimed monies both in the capital market and the banking system and established a fund that will actually access through dividends that have been unclaimed for a certain number of years that meet certain basic definitions.
“It is not that the government has taken over the money, but when the claimants eventually surface, there is a system for recovering.
“Every person who has come to the capital market and invested money should be able to get his dividends as and when due,” he added.
He noted that SEC would continue working to ensure it gets to zero per cent level, saying that “there is a need for strong investor education to achieve success.”
The SEC boss had earlier stated that unclaimed dividends in the Nigerian Capital Markets rose to N170 billion as at December 2020. He added that the figure rose from N158.44 billion in total unclaimed dividends as of December 2019.