The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Nigeria’s apex capital market regulator, has embarked on a plan to rebuild the E-Dividend Management Mandate System (e-DMMS) platform in a bid to forestall and curb unclaimed dividends in the capital market.
The Director General, Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr. Lamido Yuguda, said that the enhancement of the e-dividend platform includes, but not limited to: a centralised submission center for E-dividend mandate forms, Application Programming Interface (API) for banks and registrars, and a revamped web interface among others.
Mr. Yuguda said that members of the Capital Market Committee have already adopted some measures to increase the number of mandated investors on the e-DMMS and reduce the number of unclaimed dividends in the market. He also said that the e-dividend Committee has been working on the platform and have now concluded plans to rebuild it.
Yuguda said SEC has put in a lot of its resources and the Commission has started a number of programmes on investor education: to see that people mandate their accounts so that they can receive the benefits of their investment in the capital market.
He also emphasised the need for the stakeholders in the financial sector to work together towards the enactment of the Investments and Securities Bill 2022, which will enhance the performance of the Nigerian capital market and align it with global best practices.
“The reason why the number may not be reducing as expected is because a lot of investors have not mandated their accounts. Dividends are now distributed electronically, so dividends go directly into the investors account and if everybody mandates their accounts there would be little unclaimed dividends in the system.
”This process is still open and can be done with the registrars. Forms can be obtained from the banks too and it’s a very simple process. We also have on our website, a tool that assists the investors to determine any unclaimed dividends that they have. And I would encourage everyone to take advantage of these tools or to directly speak to the complaints section of the SEC and we would guide that person appropriately,” Yuguda said.
He commended the House of Representatives Committee on Capital Markets and Institutions of Unclaimed Dividends over its efforts to investigate the rising value of unclaimed dividend and unremitted withholding tax on dividends.
Yuguda further confirmed the commission’s readiness to give the committee all the support that is needed to enable it carry out its assignment.
