Firm introduces scheme to aid families claim dead relations’ share certificates/dividends
The call on investors to embrace e-dividend payment system by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), by visiting their respective banks or registrars to complete the e-dividend mandate form on or before March 14, has so far received cold response.

SEC, in a statement in December, stated that the registration would enable immediate processing and upload to the e-Dividend Mandate Management System (e-DMMS).

According to the statement, the service will be free for the next 90 days, starting from December 14, after which a fee of N100 would apply. The 90 days will end on March 14.

Mid last year, SEC in collaboration with Central Bank of Nigeria and Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System, launched the e-Dividend payment platform in July 2014. The launch was in a bid to eradicate the difficulty encountered by retail investors in claiming their dividends through their savings accounts.

The Director-General of SEC, Mounir Gwarzo, had said the platform would address the lingering unclaimed dividend issue in the market.

“The platform, which is part of the 10-year capital market master-plan, will address the issues of non-payment of dividends into savings accounts.

“The era of stale dividend and huge unclaimed dividend in the market will be a thing of the past with the launch of the e-Dividend payment platform.

“The commission will conduct intensive training for bankers and registrars on the usage of the new portal,” Gwarzo said in the statement.

Meanwhile, Meristem Registrar has announced the introduction of a unique service, known as the Meristem Probate Management Services, which are intended to effectively facilitate the transfer of a deceased’s assets to the beneficiary to the point of recovering all outstanding benefits.

The firm, in a statement, said that the new services include, not only the endorsement of bank certificate to ascertain the assets of the deceased, but also the registration of grant of probate/letters of administration and procurement of certificate of additional asset or certificate of further security at probate registry.

According to the Registrar, Chief Executive Officer of the firm, Mrs. Mubo Olasoko, other assistance under the scheme include the authentication of letters of administration at the probate registry and endorsement of certificates/dividends in the names of the administrators, and also effecting new mandates of the administrators; collection of outstanding dividend on the estate’s account and dematerialization of physical share certificate into estate’s CSCS account.

Olasoko added that her company was moved to introduce the services to ease the difficulties normally encountered by dead investors’ next of kin when trying to claim the benefits of their dead ones from the companies that had investments.
She advised those facing such challenges to contact Meristem Registrar for detail information and assistance.

But in an interview with The Guardian, the Registrar/Chief Executive Officer, Meristem Registrar Limited, Mrs. Mubo Olasoko, said despite the efforts of SEC and other stakeholders, the response from shareholders has not be encouraging.

She said: “Though the Securities and Exchange Commission SEC) has taken it very serious and is doing everything possible to encourage investors to embrace e-dividend payment, the shareholders response to the call has not been encouraging. If this persists, the issue of unclaimed dividend will remain a problem.

“Right now, it has been decided that we should go e-dividend so that there is no more cases of wrong address or that this or that person does not have his dividend. Even the calls to the shareholders to fill bank mandate form that will enable us pay into their bank accounts has not been yielding encouraging response.

“The response has been very poor. The result we have got so far is not commensurate with the effort that we have put into it. But SEC is unrelenting and it is still going about doing road shows all over the place encouraging people to see the need for them to come out and embrace the e-dividend payment option”.

“The e-dividend is the way to go to solve the unclaimed dividend issue. If the dividend is paid direct to your account and you do not go there to withdraw it, it will remain there in your account.”

Meanwhile, a cheery may have come the way of those having difficulties claiming the share certificates and dividends that belong to their dead relations.

Meristem Registrar, while announcing a unique service for the purspose, known as the Meristem Probate Management Services, said it is intended to effectively facilitate the transfer of deceased’s assets to the beneficiary to the point of recovering all outstanding benefits.

The firm in a statement, noted that the new services include, not only the endorsement of bank certificate to ascertain the assets of the deceased, but also the registration of grant of probate/letters of administration and procurement of certificate of additional asset or certificate of further security at probate registry.

According to the company, other assistance includes the authentication of letters of administration at the probate registry and endorsement of certificates/dividends in the names of the administrators, and also effecting new mandates of the administrators; collection of outstanding dividend on the estate’s account and dematerialization of physical share certificate into estate’s CSCS account.

The registrar, CEO of Meristem, Mrs. Mubo Olasoko, said they were moved to introduce the services to ease the difficulties normally encountered by dead investors’ next of kin when claiming the benefits of their deceased’s investments.

According to her, it is the same shareholders that are active in attending AGMs that have responded to the call. If you look at the percentage of those that have responded in relation to the total number of shareholders in the country there are about five million shareholders in the country but only about 500 or 1,000 are active of the five million.

In the register of shareholders, where there are 100,000 shareholders, rarely you find 10,000 shareholders, who have signed for the e-payment system. So, there is great need to create widespread awareness to move people out to embrace the option. The media need to assist in spreading the awareness.

Asked where the shareholders can go to enroll on the e-dividend payment option, she said: “There are about 22 registrars in the capital market handling the e-dividend payment for the companies under them. But investors can go to the registrar of the companies that they have shares and fill the form and those who want to know the registrar under us can get the list on our website www.meristem.com.ng, she said.”