You Can Now Pay Dividend Warrants Into Savings Accounts

TransCanada

The Securities and Exchange Commission SEC said all ‘dividend warrants can now be deposited into savings accounts’ from anywhere in the country.

The SEC said it is a follow up to a “directive from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) via Circular referenced BPS/DIR/GEN/CIR/03/005 dated 28th July, 2016 instructing banks to allow customers with BVN to deposit cheques into their savings account”

The SEC said it aims was “to put an end to the growth in unclaimed dividends in Nigeria, the SEC had engaged the CBN and other stakeholders on key initiatives”.

As to how the feat was achieved, the SEC “set up a committee comprising the SEC, CBN and representatives of Registrars in 2013 to work on the e-Dividend programme. The committee’s work and advocacy played a crucial work in facilitating the significant progress already achieved, including the new directive on accepting cheques into savings accounts”.

“Through excellent collaboration with the CBN, the Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) and deposit money banks, the Commission was able to develop and deploy 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-DMMS will be able to receive their dividends directly into their accounts”, the commission said.

“In addition to the e-DMMS, investors with previously-received dividend warrants can now deposit same into their savings accounts in line with the CBN circular under reference. This is an important achievement investors have been clamoring for in Nigeria since the inception of the capital market. For decades, investors who only operate savings accounts could not claim the dividends from their investments due to the inability to deposit dividend warrants into savings accounts. This limitation contributed to the growth in quantum of unclaimed dividends in Nigeria. With this new directive from the CBN, Nigeria is moving ever closer to an era where retail investors can have increased comfort to return to the capital market”.

The SEC said all “investors are hereby enjoined to take immediate steps to deposit dividend warrants in their possession into their accounts. Please note that the bank would require your BVN in order to satisfy know-your-customer (KYC) requirements. Investors who are yet to get enrolled on the e-Dividend platform are equally advised to approach their respective banks and get enrolled for free”.

 

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