INVESTING: The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Friday said it will sanction stakeholders whose actions are frustrating its efforts toward reducing the volume of unclaimed dividends.
Basic Facts
- Unclaimed dividends stood at over N 177bn at the end of 2021.
- Unclaimed dividends stood at over N168bn at the end of the year 2020.
What We Know
The Nigerian security and exchange commission (SEC), Friday said it is set to sanction stakeholders over unclaimed dividends.
The Commission (SEC), says it will sanction stakeholders whose actions are frustrating its efforts toward reducing the volume of unclaimed dividends.
This was made known by Mr Lamido Yuguda, the Director-General of SEC, in a post Capital Market Committee (CMC) news conference on Friday in Abuja.
Mr. Lamido Yuguda, said in spite of the commission’s efforts in ensuring Electronic Dividend Mandate Management System (e-DMMS), investors have continued to lament the delay in the payment of their e-dividends. He said a lot of investors had yet to mandate their account to be able to receive their dividends.
Mr. Yuguda said that unclaimed dividends as at 2021 stood at N177 billion, while that of the year 2020 stood at of N168 billion.
The SEC DG, said that the commission had obtained donor funding to acquire and deploy securities market surveillance system.
He further noted, that the surveillance system will improve the commission’s regulatory and supervisory capabilities, over securities trading activities.
SEC Boss Mr. Yuguda assured that the commission would continue to engage the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to deepen the commodities ecosystem. The SEC boss further said the commission continues to engage with the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning on the request for tax exemption for corporate bonds.
Notable Quotes
The SEC through her DG said, “Capital market operators must also do more to demonstrate through their activities, an efficient capital market system that prioritizes the interest of investors.
“As part of our efforts to stem the tide of activities of unregistered crowdfunding platforms, the commission warned the operators of these platforms that they stand the chance of being prosecuted,”
Takeaway
Anyone familiar with shareholders plight in Nigeria, will agree that investors in the Nigerian capital market suffer a lot of frustrations from the stakeholders in the system.
The direct consequences of this is that most investors have backed out of the market, spiraling into discouragement to other prospective investors, who ordinarily would have opted to play in the market.
This development is therefore a welcome development in the market, as it seeks to sanitize things and ensure stress free investment environment that also ensures seamless return on investment.
Clariform therefore agrees with the Security and Exchange Commission on the need to clean up the capital market, as this would help release capital for investment and also encourage more players that will further make the Nigerian capital market more buoyant.
