Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has extended to December 31, 2019, the deadline for the discontinuance of the issuance of dividend warrants.
The extension, according to the Commission, is to enable relevant stakeholders deliberate on and address all outstanding issues.
The decision of the Commission is in furtherance of its overriding mandate to ensure that all categories of shareholders and investors are adequately protected, it said in a circular posted on the website of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
The capital market regulator reiterated that the e-dividend initiative remains critical to the complete elimination of the incidence of unclaimed dividends, while appealing to all shareholders who are yet to do so, to get mandated on the e-DMMS platform before December 31, 2019.
The Commission said that it recently conducted a strategic assessment of the implementation of the e-dividend initiative across the country and reviewed feedback and observations received from stakeholders and the general public. “The assessment revealed that while remarkable progress has been recorded in concerted efforts through robust enlightenment campaigns to mobilize more shareholders to get mandated on the e-DMMS platform, there remain a few pertinent issue that need to be resolved as a precursor to the total discontinuance of the issuance of dividend warrants by Registrars” the circular added
