By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The free electronic dividend (e-dividend) registration, which ended on December 31, 2017, has now been extended to Wednesday, February 2018.
The initiative was put in place by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the apex regulatory agency in the Nigerian capital market.
The e-dividend payment system was introduced to allow shareholders and investors get their money paid directly into their bank accounts.
When deadline for the free registration ended last year, some stakeholders in the capital market appealed to SEC to extend the exercise.
The regulator had earlier announced that though the registration was ongoing, shareholders, who did not meet the deadline, were only required to pay the sum of N150 to be part of it.
But in a statement issue yesterday, SEC explained that in order to encourage more shareholders participation in the initiative and part of its developmental role, it has now extended the free registration to the end of next month.
“SEC, as part of its developmental role, has extended the period for the free e-dividend registration till February 28, 2018, to encourage more shareholders mandate their bank accounts.
“Accordingly, shareholders that are yet to register should continue to approach their banks or registrars to mandate their bank accounts for the collection of their dividends electronically, including unclaimed dividends, not exceeding 12 years of issue,” the statement issued in Lagos yesterday said.
