Many Nigerians do not know of the high backlog of unclaimed dividends in the Nigerian capital market. You may have unclaimed dividends either from your personal investments, or from a parent, a grand parent, a spouse, or any other family member.
A lot of Nigerians invested in the stock market and just forgot about their investments. However, It is possible that your forgotten investments may be accruing dividends, which you are yet to claim.
Only about N30billion has been paid from the backlog of unclaimed dividends worth over N80billion (Vanguard Nigeria – As of January 2017).
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC Nigeria) has created an e-dividend portal to reduce the high incidence of unclaimed dividends, but most investors have not registered to this portal. Investors are therefore encouraged to register.
The purpose of the e-dividend portal is for all investors who have unclaimed dividends to register for the electronic collection of their unclaimed dividends and subsequent dividends. The e-dividend portal will also enable the proceeds from their secondary market transactions to be credited to their preferred Bank Account (Direct Cash Settlement) ~ (SEC Nigeria).
SEC Nigeria opened a database of non-mandated accounts to help investors check whether they have unclaimed dividends and provide information for easy registration to the e-dividend portal.
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How to Check and Claim Your Dividends
Follow the link below to check if you or your family members have unclaimed dividends. You will need to type just your name.
www.sec.gov.ng/non-mandated/
Once you have confirmed an unclaimed dividend under your name, the process is easy:
- Take note of your Registrar’s name
- Note the name of the company you have their shares
- Take note of your investment account number
- Click on the link at the top of the SEC Portal and download your Registrar’s e-mandate form
- Complete the form and send it to your local bank or your Registrar’s office with a copy of your passport photo.
That’s it! Your Bank or your Registrar will do the rest! Once you have been verified and processed, you will receive all your unclaimed dividends. They will be paid into your chosen bank account.
Click here: www.sec.gov.ng/non-mandated/
VIDEO: Step-by-Step Guide to Claiming Your Unclaimed Dividends
VIDEO: How to Claim Your Dividends In Nigeria
You Should Act Fast
- By February 28, 2018, physical dividend warrants will no longer be issued. This means that if you did not sign up for the e-dividends, you stand the risk of losing all your unclaimed dividends.
- SEC is bearing the cost of the registration now, so it is FREE
- By February 28, 2018, the registration to the e-dividend portal will no longer be free. You will then have to pay a fee to be registered.
If you have ever invested in the Nigerian capital market, go ahead and just check, it is free until February 28, 2018. If you have a deceased family member, check the name, they may have unclaimed dividends. In this case, follow up with your local bank for the recovery process. Take advantage of this opportunity. Remember, every penny counts!
Update: March 19, 2019:
Huge traffic from this post has caused SEC’s e-dividend portal to crash. Read what to do on this recent post here: