By NKIRUKA NNOROM

The Association of Stockbroking Houses of Nigeria, ASHON, has said that the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, decision to stop the issuance of dividend warrant effective from 3rd June, is in the interest of the capital market, and will help arrest the spate of unclaimed dividend if implemented.

Speaking to Vanguard in Lagos, the association president, Mr. Emeka Madubuike said the move was part of the processes to ensure that the market gets better on continuous basis. He said, “People just need to do the right thing. People need to follow the processes; there is nothing wrong about that. If you see something that is right, you don’t have to be biased. You know in Nigeria, unless you put a deadline, people tend not to do anything. The issue of e-dividend has been on for over four years.”

“You know the issue of unclaimed dividend has been a long outstanding problem and I think the position the SEC has taken is that they are trying to resolve that problem so that we don’t add to what is already there.

“We encourage investors to go to their registrars, fill the form and go to their banks to get endorsement that they are the owners of the account. We as stockbrokers also do it for our clients; if you go to most offices of stockbroking firms, you will have those forms and it is one of the services we render to our customers,” he added.

Following the continuous rise in the level of unclaimed dividend, the Sec last week announced that starting from June 3rd this year, shareholders will no longer be issued dividend warrants.

“The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has therefore requested all investors of public companies to forward their bank account details to their respective registrars and stockbrokers on or before June 3rd to facilitate the electronic payment of future dividends.

Any shareholder who fails to comply with this directive risks the chance of forfeiting future dividend except in the event that a shareholder specifically requests in writing for a continued issuance of dividend warrants,” the apex regulator said.