The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has advised all shareholders and investors in the Nigerian Capital market to approach their banks or registrars to complete the e-Dividend Mandate form for immediate processing and upload to the e-Dividend Mandate Management System (e-DMMS).

According to a statement from the commission, this service is free of charge for the next 90 days effective 14 December, 2015, thereafter a fee of N100 will apply.

It would be recalled that in a bid to eradicate the difficulty encountered by retail investors in claiming their dividends through their savings account, the SEC in collaboration with Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) last July launched the e-Dividend payment platform.

Unveiling the platform, the Director General of SEC, Mr. Mounir Gwarzo, SEC, said the platform would address the lingering unclaimed dividend issue in the market. According to him, the platform, which is part of the 10 year capital market masterplan, would address the issues of none payment of dividends into savings account.

‘To mitigate errors in the treatment of e-Dividend Mandate Forms, Registrars shall institute a marker-checker system that enables the verification and upload of e-Dividend Mandate Form(s) by a Registrar Uploader subject to confirmation and approval by a Registrar Checker.’