Igbrude Moses, General Secretary, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria, ISAN, spoke on the extension of deadline for e-dividend registration and issuance of dividend warrant by the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, to December 31, 2017.

By Nkiruka Nnorom

WHAT is your take on the extension of deadline for e-dividend registration and issuance of dividend warrant to December 31, 2017 by the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC?

It is a very good idea. I am in support of it as a member of shareholders’ association; I appreciate the SEC for that bold step because it will reduce the volume of unclaimed dividend. If SEC had stopped the e-dividend registration on June 30th as planned, many people would not have registered and it would have caused more problem than what they intended to solve. I believe the intention of the extension is to allow more investors to key into the e-dividend campaign so that every investor will get his money on time. So, we are very happy that the date has been extended.

Igbrude Moses

Now that they have extended it, they have to do more work to get more people who are not in the cities to register.
What do you think the SEC should do in order to capture the category of investors you talked about?
They should engage in more campaign and awareness activity. They have to go down to the rural areas; it is not only in the cities. They have to get the banks, registrars, shareholders’ associations and every other stakeholder involved if they want to achieve more result. They also have to do more radio jingles and television advertisements.
What do you have to say to shareholders who have heard about this campaign but have ignored it?
Anybody that has heard should try and key in because no matter how little your money is, it will settle straight into your account. It will, reduce cost for the shareholders along the line because if you successfully mandate your account, immediately dividend is approved and disbursed, it will clear into your account. Another reason it is important for them to register is because e-dividend will eliminate the cost of going to your bank to lodge the warrant. So, in the long run, the shareholders are cutting cost.

Generally, what do have to say on SEC’s effort to reduce unclaimed dividend in the market?
I must commend their effort because many people are keying into the e-dividend mandate. So, it will help to reduce the mounting unclaimed dividend. You know, they have legacy issue, but going forward, I think many people are cooperating and due to it, there will be significant improvement in reduction of unclaimed dividend. But, I think, they have do more campaign.