My name was in a list of unclaimed dividends.

By -


Have you ever seen a list of unclaimed dividends?

What would you do if you found out that you were among those whose money was sitting idle in company’s account waiting for you to come and collect it?

Perhaps you would look for your share certificate to know how  many units you bought. You would also go back to search for those early emails to know how much you bought the shares again. Even though you haven’t paid much attention to the 8 o’clock news or 10 o’clock news, you will patiently wait until it was time for the Business Reports.

This time around even if you don’t buy the newspapers to read, you would at least browse the stock market section to know which stock is green and which is red, the first for gainers, the other for losers. But will that solve the problem?

Of course not. Your name will still be in that list when it is published again unless you take concrete action.
Now let us talk about what you should do if you find your name in the list of unclaimed dividends.

How would you feel holding a cheque this size? Image from http://www.bmibank.com.bh
First of all, find out who your company’s Registrars are. They are the ones who handle the business of the shares and dividends for the companies. They prepare the lists of unclaimed dividends for all the companies whose registers they handle.

When you have found them, get a copy of their dividend mandate form. This will enable you set up a dividend mandate so that your dividends are credited directly to your bank account.

Fill this form correctly and verify it with your bankers. When this is done, you can complete the process by submitting the form to your registrars.

It takes a little while for the registrars to process the applications so give them some time and it will be done. Many times they don’t tell you if it’s successful or not but there are those who do. So when you are filling your form make sure to fill it with the correct details so that if they need anything they can reach you easily.

In the event that you positively cannot find the Registrars on your own, look around on our website. You will find them here.


Popular posts from this blog

No More Paper Dividend Warrants!

By -
Image
According to recent reports reaching us, the SEC has given a stipulation that effective   July 1 st 2017 dividends are to be paid directly into the bank accounts of shareholders. This means that any dividends declared after July 1 st 2017 will not be issued or printed on paper. The implication is that any shareholder who doesn’t have an e-dividend mandate on his account is going to lose his dividends. I don’t know how that is going to work but if the BVN registration is anything to go by, many people are going to shed tears. However, with the e-dividend mandate service the dividends can be credited to the your account instantly if you are a shareholder. This provides a win-win situation for stockholders and companies because the shareholder gets his dividends when due even if he did not know that dividends were declared. On the other hand the companies will increase the confidence of their investors and thereby secure increased investments. Then the SEC herself ...
Read more

And your dividends can be paid into your savings account!

By -
Image
The Securities and Exchan ge Commission recently gave a public notice th at dividend warrants can now be deposited into savings accounts. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is pleased to notify the investing public that dividend warrants can now be deposited into savings accounts. This follows the directive from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) via Circular referenced BPS/DIR/GEN/CIR/03/005 dated 28 th July, 2016 instructing banks to allow customers with BVN to deposit cheques into their savings account. This is part of the measures they are carrying out to put an end to the growth in unclaimed dividends in Nigeria. The SEC had earlier on engaged the CBN and other stakeholders on key initiatives like the e-Dividend Mandate Management System (e-DMMS) as an online portal for enrolling investors. Retail investors have since then been enrolling onto the platform using their Bank Verification Numbers (BVN). Investors who successfully register on the e-DM...
Read more