Unclaimed dividend rises to N215bn March 2024 – SEC

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the apex regulator of the capital market, has said that unclaimed dividends have increased to N215 billion as at March 2024.

The Director General of SEC, Dr Emomotimi Agama who disclosed this in an interview said that the SEC is putting up mechanisms to make sure it brings down the unclaimed dividend.

He said that currently the commission has introduced a new portal that allows individuals to do what is called self services, adding that the commission is planning to create an application which will be in Google play store for people to download to enable them access their dividends real time and claim it.

He said that recently the SEC and the Committee for identity management for the capital market have looked at the entire spectrum of the unclaimed dividends issue and identified that the major challenge is lack of identification of investors.

He expressed optimism that technology will be a solution to the problem of unclaimed dividend, noting that the commission is doing everything to ensure that it is reduced and at the end of the day completely erased.

He said the apex regulator is making every effort to encourage more companies to get listed at the Exchange, adding that the commission would continue promoting capacity building on derivatives both for market operators and regulators.

Stating the advantages of listing at the Exchange, he said coming to the capital would enable the company to have access to long term funds and the best place to get such money is through the capital market.

Highlighting some of the SEC’s achievement so far, he said the Commission has approved nine new issuances totaling to N1.228 trillion, and it is reflecting increased confidence in the market.

In the funds management space, he said the Net Asset Value NAV) of registered mutual funds grew by 111.08 per cent to N3.335 trillion, indicating a strong and sustainable growth.