The Securities and Exchange Commission has consolidated 45,733 multiple accounts involving 4.82n shares under its multiple subscription window introduced to eliminate unclaimed dividends in the nation’s capital market.
Alhassan Suleiman, Deputy Director of SEC and Chairman, Multiple Subscription Committee, gave the figure over the weekend while speaking with journalists.
In 2017, the commission introduced a multiple subscription window for investors with multiple shares to regularise their accounts to reduce the volume of unclaimed dividends.
Multiple subscriptions to public offers occurred during the market boom when investors used different names to purchase shares to enable them to buy more than permitted units of shares.
Suleiman said from inception to the second quarter of 2020, 45,733 multiple accounts were consolidated involving 4.82bn units of shares.
“Based on reports submitted by registrars and stockbrokers, from inception to second quarter 2020, 45,733 multiple accounts have so far been consolidated involving 4.823bn units of shares,” he said.
Suleiman added that efforts were ongoing to ensure more investors embrace the window to regularise and consolidate their portfolios, pointing out that the fear of investors being sanctioned has been addressed.
According to him, the SEC and the capital market community carried out enlightenment campaigns to create awareness and encourage investors to embrace the initiative.
“We worked closely with the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc on the e-Dividend management system, and we will continue to engage them,” he said.
He explained that SEC had prioritised the enhancement of investors’ experience in the capital market, adding that identity management is critical to achieving it.
He said that Capital Market Operators had been given an October 2020 deadline to update ‘Know Your Customer’ information of their clients to tackle identity issues.
Suleiman said a KYC depository would be developed by the market after the deadline, to facilitate the resolution of some identity-related issues in the market.
“As a starting point, CMOs have been given October 2020 deadline to update KYC information on clients.
“Following this, a KYC depository would be developed by the market to facilitate the resolution of some identity-related issues,” he said.
