Economy

E-Dividends Registration: Investors Rush to Beat Deadline

Published

9 years ago

26/12/2017

By Dipo Olowookere

There is last-minute rush by shareholders in the Nigerian capital market to register for free for the electronic dividend (e-dividend) payment system introduced by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The regulatory agency fixed December 31, 2017 as deadline for the free registration of the e-dividend payment system.

Last month, while addressing capital market correspondents, the suspended Director General of SEC, Mr Mounir Gwarzo, had lamented the low level of enrolment for the e-dividend exercise, noting that the level of compliance had dropped lately.

He had said in August 2017, a total of 50,819 investors registered for the e-dividend, while it increased to 59,204 in September, but dropped to 37,153 in October.

Mr Gwarzo had warned that SEC would not extend the December 31, 2017 deadline for the registration despite pleas by stakeholders for an extension.

According to him, SEC has been underwriting the cost of the e-dividend and from next year, investors will have to pay N150 for the exercise.

“We realised that there is a slow pace in terms of the implementation of the e-dividend as in the last three-four months, there has not been appreciable increase in terms of number of people registering.

“By December 31, 2017, any Nigerian that does not register for e-dividend will now have to pay N150 for registration.

“We have been pursuing this initiative since last year and SEC has been underwriting the cost. The moment you start extending, people will think they have 100 years to do it.

“I don’t think we should keep on extending it, we want to keep our word on that December 31. Whoever that does not register should be able to pay the amount stipulated,” Mr Gwarzo had told newsmen.

At the first Capital Market Committee (CMC) meeting for 2017, Mr Gwarzo had disclosed that about 2.2 million investors in the capital market registered for the e-dividend payment system.

But with three working days left before the deadline, there is a huge rush for registration.

From January 1, 2018, investors in the capital market will no longer be able to receive their dividends physically, but would be paid directly into their bank accounts.

Business Post gathered that investors, who were yet to register for the exercise, are in a last-minute rush to key into the system.

However, some of them complained that the process of registering for the exercise has been cumbersome.

According to the Nation, a cross section of capital market stakeholders at the weekend showed increased activities on the registration. At the various registration points – banks, registrars and stockbrokers, officials confirmed that there have been noticeable increases in request for e-dividend.

Stakeholders, who spoke with The Nation at the weekend called on SEC to extend the e-dividend registration citing hitches that had slowed down the process of registration. They noted that given the importance of the e-dividend system to the stock market, SEC should allow the e-dividend and dividend warrants to run concurrently while improving enlightenment campaign for the e-dividend.

Shareholders United Front (SUF) National Coordinator, Mr Gbenga Idowu, said SEC should extend the deadline for the e-dividend registration to enable retail shareholders that are having difficulties with the registration to resolve the issues.

He urged SEC to widen its publicity campaign to other nooks and crannies of the country.

Standard Shareholders Association of Nigeria National President, Mr Godwin Anono, said SEC should allow open-ended registration for the e-dividend as part of its market development mandate.

He alleged that registrars were frustrating shareholders with unnecessary additional requirements for the e-dividend even when shareholders have provided their Biometric Verification Number (BVN).

According to him, many registrars were stalling the e-dividend registration because they are the main beneficiaries of the lopsided system where dividends are either delayed or categorised as unclaimed.

Constance Shareholders Association of Nigeria National President, Mallam Shehu Mikhail, said SEC should compel the three main stakeholders in the registration process – the Central Securities Clearing System, registrars and stockbroking firms to harmonise their data base using the Know-Your-Customer (KYC) information from the stockbroking firms.

SEC last year announced last June 30, as deadline for issuing physical dividend warrants but later extended it to December 31 to shareholders by quoted companies to tackle unclaimed dividends and mitigate the risks associated with warrants.

In November 2015, SEC launched the E-Dividend Mandate Management System (E-DMMS) with the Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) and other stakeholders. The E-DMMS is an E-dividend payment portal that ensures the payment of dividends into a shareholder’s account.

It is believed that these steps taken by the Commission would help to reduce the increase of unclaimed dividend which stood at N117 billion as at December 31, 2016. Of this figure, N86 billion was in the custody of the paying companies while N13.7 billion was with the registrars. From November 2015, when the SEC kicked off the campaign on e-dividends, about N42.2 billion has been paid to investors from the backlog of unclaimed dividends.

Economy

Four Securities Erase N51.17bn from NASD Exchange

Published

18 hours ago

27/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Four securities weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.95 per cent on Friday, erasing N41.17 billion from the bourse, which had its market capitalisation at N2.567 trillion compared with the previous session’s N2.618 trillion.

In the same vein, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) decreased at the close of business by 85.28 points to 4,277.07 points from 4,362.32 points.

The price decliners were led by 11 Plc, which gave up N20.50 to sell at N200.50 per share compared with the preceding day’s N221.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc dropped N16.94 to close at N155.20 per unit versus Thursday’s closing price of N172.14 per unit, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went down by N2.11 to N84.68 per share from N86.79 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc lost 11 Kobo to end at N16.74 per unit, in contrast to the N16.85 per unit it closed a day earlier.

During the trading day, the value of transactions jumped by 172.1 per cent to N29.9 million from the preceding session’s N10.9 million, and the volume of trades soared by 136.5 per cent to 955,096 units from the previous 403,901 units, while the number of deals went down by 11.4 per cent to 31 deals from 35 deals.

Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 68.6 million units sold for N4.7 billion.

GNI Plc also ended the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.

Economy

Cautious Trading, Profit-taking Weaken Nigeria’s Stock Exchange by 0.66%

Published

19 hours ago

27/06/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The last trading session of this week on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended on a negative note, with a 0.66 per cent loss on Friday.

This was influenced by sustained selling pressure and cautious trading, which forced investors into profit-taking.

Data obtained by Business Post showed that the energy sector fell by 4.66 per cent, the insurance counter dipped by 2.23 per cent, the consumer goods index depreciated by 0.96 per cent, and the banking segment shed 0.28 per cent, while the industrial goods space remained unchanged.

At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) of Nigeria’s stock exchange went down by 1,531.81 points to 232,049.02 points from 233,580.83 points, and the market capitalisation dropped N983 billion to settle at N148.905 trillion compared with Thursday’s N149.888 trillion.

Aradel was the worst-performing equity after it lost 10.00 per cent to close at N1,417.50. International Energy Insurance slipped by 9.95 per cent to N5.79, Trans-Nationwide Express depreciated by 9.89 per cent to N3.28, eTranzact crashed by 9.79 per cent to N14.75, and UPDC slumped by 9.72 per cent to N28.12.

The best-performing equity for the day was Universal Insurance, which gained 6.32 per cent to close at N1.01, McNichols grew by 5.52 per cent to N8.60, Linkage Assurance expanded by 4.67 per cent to N1.57, NGX Group appreciated by 4.35 per cent to N120.00, and Transcorp increased by 3.62 per cent to N41.50.

As look at the activity level indicated that investors traded 388.7 million stocks worth N18.4 billion in 44,631 deals compared with the 393.7 million stocks valued at N19.2 billion executed in 45,813 deals a day earlier, representing a decline in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 1.27 per cent, 4.17 per cent, and 2.58 per cent, respectively.

Economy

Official FX Market Sees Naira Dip to N1,380.93/$1

Published

19 hours ago

27/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira recorded a loss of 82 Kobo or 0.06 per cent against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, June 26, exchanging at N1,380.93/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s rate of N1,380.11/$1.

Equally, the domestic currency further weakened against the Pound Sterling in the official FX market yesterday by N6.06 to settle at N1,824.90/£1 versus the preceding session’s N1,818.84/£1, and lost N10.74 on the Euro to sell at N1,577 .58/€1 versus N1,566.84/€1.

At the GTBank forex counter, the Naira depreciated against the greenback during the session by N4 to close at N1,387/$1, in contrast to Thursday’s value of N1,383/$1, and at the parallel market, it was unchanged at N1,395/$1.

Interbank FX activity among financial institutions has fluctuated amid a sharp slowdown in forex market interventions by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as it allows demand and supply to move the market.

Also, a stronger greenback has generally put significant pressure on emerging-market currencies.

Nigeria has accessed the first tranche of a proposed $5 billion derivatives financing arrangement with First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC, the largest lender in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The $5 billion facility, approved by the National Assembly earlier this year, is part of the federal government’s plan to diversify external financing sources and reduce borrowing costs. Structured as a Total Return Swap with First Abu Dhabi Bank, proceeds are earmarked for refinancing debt and supporting infrastructure financing.

If the proceeds are brought into the country through the official FX market, the transaction will increase the currency reserves or Dollar liquidity.

At the cryptocurrency market, Solana (SOL) grew by 2.2 per cent to $71.92, Cardano (ADA) gained 1.1 per cent to trade at $0.1474, Ripple (XRP) also appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $1.05, Dogecoin (DOGE) expanded by 0.9 per cent to $0.0755, and Ethereum (ETH) improved by 0.4 per cent to $1,578.84.

On the flip side, TRON (TRX) slid 0.6 per cent to $0.3203, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 0.3 per cent to $564.33, and Bitcoin fell by 0.2 per cent to $60,219.37, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.