Unclaimed dividends rise to N43.4bn

DESPITE quest bythe Securitiesand Exchange Commission (SEC) to make quoted companies make public their unclaimed dividend portfolios, investigation has shown that 35 per cent of them are still defaulting.Further findings also revealed that rather than most companies making concerted effort to ensure the weight of the dividends not claimed is reduced, most of them plough the funds back into their operations.As at last Thursday, unclaimed dividends spread among the 200 companies listed on the Exchange was estimated to be in the region of N43.4billion compared to about N20billion two years ago.Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune, a source at the commission who will not want to be mentioned in print, said ordinarily the figure should be higher, adding that quoting figures will be misleading as most companies had not rendered their accounts to the commission in recent times.He noted that the commission was currently working out modalities on how best to enforce compliance, without unnecessarily creating panic in the equities market which has suffered crisis of confidence from investors.It will be recalled that the issue of unclaimed dividends in the capital market has become one that seems to have defied solutions despite the aggressive drive by the commission to ensure that dividend payout by companies are received by investors promptly.Shareholders in the market had also called for a special pool where the unclaimed dividend would be paid, pending when owners would come forward to collect as against leaving them in the coffers of the companies paying them out.Although the bill to set up the pool sponsored by the apex market regulators is presently before the House of Representatives, shareholders in the capital market have expressed worry as to who will manage the funds.Reasons given for the growth of unclaimed dividend include issues of shareholders who died intestate and without information on next of kin, multiple applications by applicants during the investment process and deliberate actions to deny investors their benefit through various schemes by some registrars and companies who lack liquidity to pay.
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