Nigeria: SEC Reports Unclaimed Dividends of N190 Billion in Capital Market

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has revealed that the amount of unclaimed dividends in Nigeria’s capital market has reached N190 billion.

During the second post-Capital Market Committee (CMC) media briefing held in Abuja on Friday, Mr. Lamido Yuguda, the Director-General of SEC, discussed the reasons behind this increase. He attributed the growing figure to challenges related to identity management within the country.

Yuguda also noted that the rise in unclaimed dividends is linked to instances of multiple subscriptions by investors during banking consolidation and identity management processes. He highlighted the presence of legacy issues that have exacerbated the problem of unclaimed dividends.

However, Yuguda shared that the commission is actively collaborating with the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) to address this issue through an e-dividend portal. The SEC is working with NIBSS to make necessary upgrades and repairs to the electronic dividend portal.

He emphasized the commission’s commitment to reducing the number of unclaimed dividends and ensuring that investors receive their dividends in a timely manner.

Yuguda also commented on dollar-denominated bonds listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX). He clarified that there is no concern as long as the bonds are corporate in nature.

Acknowledging the challenges ahead for the market, Yuguda assured that the capital market would actively support ongoing economic reforms.

He mentioned the introduction of the Know Your Customer (KYC) requirement to gather essential information and stressed the need for market players to prioritize cybersecurity measures to protect sensitive financial data and transactions.

The director-general also expressed concern about the trend of companies choosing to de-list from the capital market.

Adding to the discussion, Mr. Dayo Obisan, the Commissioner of Operations at SEC, highlighted that one of the major challenges facing the commission is ensuring that beneficiaries can access and claim their dividends. Obisan emphasized SEC’s efforts to encourage investors to update their bank details and information to facilitate smoother dividend claims.

He stressed the importance of capturing accurate data for market participants and robustly working toward reducing unclaimed dividends.