Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), on Tuesday said it has directed all public companies and their Registrars not to treat unclaimed dividends older than 12 years as “statute-barred” any more, especially those dating from before the enactment of the Finance Act 2020.
The directive, the commission said in a statement, reaffirms that the provisions of Section 60 of the Finance Act, which mandates that dividends unclaimed for over six years be transferred to the Unclaimed Funds Trust Fund (UFTF), where they remain accessible to shareholders pending claims.
Shareholders, the SEC further noted, are entitled to continue claiming dividends that are not above 12 years before December 31, 2020 “when the Finance Act 2020, came into effect.”
Paying companies and their registrars, the SEC circular lamented, “have continued to treat unclaimed dividends of public companies that are older than 12 years as being “statute-barred” without recourse to the provisions of the Finance Act 2020.
“In response to various inquiries on the subject, the commission hereby clarifies as follows: The import of the provisions of Section 60 of the Finance Act 2020 (December 31, 2020), is that, where dividends declared by a public company quoted on the Nigerian Exchange Limited remained unclaimed for a period of six years or more, such dividends are expected to be transferred to the Unclaimed Funds Trust Fund (UFTF) to be held in trust and managed pending when the shareholder presents a claim for such unclaimed dividends,” SEC said.
“Pending the setting up and operationalisation of the UFTF by the Federal Government, pursuant to its powers under Sections 3 (4) (e) and 93 of the Investments and Securities Act 2025, the Commission hereby directs public companies and their Registrars to continue to honour all requests by shareholders for the payment of unclaimed dividends as described above, with effect from December 31, 2020” the commission explained.
It therefore directed public companies and Registrars to effect immediate compliance with the directive and submit periodic reports on same in the manner prescribed in the Commission’s Rules and Regulations.
