The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday said it would sanction stakeholders whose actions frustrated its efforts to reduce the volume of unclaimed dividends.

Lamido Yuguda, the director-general of SEC, said this at a Capital Market Committee (CMC) news conference on Friday in Abuja.

“In spite of the commission’s efforts in ensuring Electronic Dividend Mandate Management System (e-DMMS), investors have continued to lament the delay in the payment of their e-dividends,” Mr Yuguda said.

He noted that a lot of investors had yet to mandate their accounts to be able to receive their dividends.

Mr Yuguda said unclaimed dividends as of 2021 stood at N177 billion, which was higher than the 2020 figure of N168 billion.

“Capital market operators must also do more to demonstrate through their activities, an efficient capital market system that prioritises the interest of investors.

“As part of our efforts to stem the tide of activities of unregistered crowdfunding platforms, the commission warned the operators of these platforms that they stand the chance of being prosecuted,” he said.

The director-general also stated that the commission obtained donor funding to acquire and deploy a securities market surveillance system.

According to him, the surveillance system will improve the commission’s regulatory and supervisory capabilities over securities trading activities.

He said the commission would continue to engage the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to deepen the commodities ecosystem.

Mr Yuguda said the commission had continued to engage with the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning on requesting tax exemption for corporate bonds. 

(NAN)