Nairametrics| The Security and Exchange Commission has published a portal where investors in equities can search for their dividend status. Here is an excerpt of the press release
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is pleased to notify the investing public that, as part of measures to curb the growth of unclaimed dividend in the Nigerian capital market, all investors are required to register for the payment of their dividends electronically (e-Dividend).
To facilitate the e-Dividend registration exercise, the SEC has provided a platform for all investors that are yet to register to search for their names.
Members of the investing public are therefore, called upon to ascertain their registration status by clicking the link below;
Unregistered Investors for e-Dividend
All investors, whose name(s) appear, are advised to URGENTLY contact the nearest branch of their Bank or Registrar to register for the collection of their unclaimed dividends and subsequent dividends electronically, as well as for the proceeds from their secondary market transactions to be credited to their preferred Bank Account (Direct Cash Settlement).
The Commission also wishes to remind the investing public on the deadline of 30thJune, 2017, which will mark the end of issuance of physical dividend warrant, with a view to mitigating the risks associated with physical dividend warrants and improving investors’ experience.
Furthermore, the 30th June, 2017 dateline will see the end of free registration of e-dividend, being bank-rolled by the Commission since the inception of the exercise in November, 2015. Hence, members of the investing public are encouraged to urgently key into the on-going free registration.
REMINDER: All investors in the Nigerian Capital Market are pleased advised to take advantage of the on-going free registration and register by approaching the nearest branch of their Bankers or Registrars for enrollment before the deadline.
What does this mean?
- Shareholders in publicly quoted companies on the Nigerian stock exchange can search within the portal to see if they have outstanding dividends that is yet to be paid to their bank account.
- You type him your name or the name you used to invest in stocks into the portal and hit search.
- If your name is in the portal it will have against it the name of the registrar of the company you shares in
- You then approach the registrar ( you can google them for their address) or just go to your bank and register for e-dividend.
- If you have stockbrokers that are willing to help you with this process, especially if you are not based on Nigeria, you can approach them.
- Once you register for e-dividend you will be paid dividends immediately.
- Make sure to go with identification if the shares is in your name.
- If it is in a company name, then make sure to go with an official letter from your company mandating you to register on your behalf. Try to get a board resolution to avoid hassles
- Remember you have till June 30, 2017 to register
- If shares belong to a deceased relative then make sure you have documents that prove that you are next of kin or acting on behalf of the estate.
This is one good initiative by SEC but flaw in implementation. Why should SEC expects an Investor with shares in many companies to go round all the registrars located in various part of the city and complete e-divided form. In the alternative, an investor should have been asked to submit each registrar e-dividend form in the companies he owns shares, to his stockbroker firm who verify and then forward to CSCS en route to the registrar for upload to the E-DMMS.
Did you miss, just go to your bank? Hence you can register at the bank too.
What do you do when the registrar disapproves your e-dividend mandate because there is no signature specimen and your stock broker is delaying in submitting a Transfer form (with the signature specimen ?
I went to the registrar myself and asked them to give me a form to sign and they said it had to come from the stockbroker. There are actually too many loop holes.
After you fill the e-dividend form out, the e-dividend form could be disapproved for many reasons.
The date should be extended to accommodate rural investors and banks are delaying implementation so as to be able to make money at the end of the free period.
What of investors in the diaspora?