SEC pays over N42bn unclaimed dividends to investors

The Securities and Exchange Commission, on Tuesday, said it had paid about N42bn out of about N117bn unclaimed dividends to investors.

The Director-General, SEC, Mr. Munir Gwarzo, said this at a public hearing organised by the Joint Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Capital Market on “The need to determine the status of unclaimed N90bn dividends in securities for Nigerian investors.”

Gwarzo said efforts by the SEC to address the issue of unclaimed dividends were already showing result with the e-dividend registration system.

He said as a result unclaimed dividend had dropped from N117bn to N75bn.

Gwarzo said, “As of today, based on the reports we received from the registrars, almost N42bn unclaimed dividends have so far been paid, out of a total of N117bn unclaimed dividends as of December30, 2016, which means our message of unclaimed dividend is yielding positive results.”