Again, SEC Extends e-Dividend Registration Deadline to March 31

By Dipo Olowookere

For the third time, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has extended deadline for the free electronic dividend (e-dividend) registration.

The exercise, earlier slated to close on Wednesday, February 28, 2018, has now been extended till Saturday, March 31, 2018.

The shift in the deadline followed low turnout for the exercise by investors.

The free e-dividend registration gives investors in the Nigerian capital market the opportunity to get their dividend directly paid into their bank accounts instead of the usual posting of dividends to registered address.

The capital market regulator, SEC, which came up with the initiative, had earlier fixed June 30, 2017 for deadline, but later extended it till December 31, 2017.

However, after pleas and pressure from investors, the commission extended the exercise to February 28, 2018.

Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in an interview on Wednesday in Lagos, a senior management staff of SEC, who pleaded anonymity, explained that the deadline was extended to allow operators to clear their e-dividend backlogs.

The source said the parties involved in exercise were the registrars and the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System, adding the appointed banks were currently working out the sharing formula for the registration fee.

Any investor who fails to register for the exercise within the stipulated time will have to cough out N150 for the registration from April 1, 2018.