SEC gives Dec 31 deadline for multiple accounts’ regularisation
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has said that investors who bought shares of the same company using different names during public offers have an extended deadline of December 31 2018 to consolidate their multiple subscriptions into a single account and equally regularise their shareholding. ADVERTISING ADVERTISING Nigerian Stock Exchange SEC’s Acting Director General, Mary Uduk, disclosed this at a post Capital Market Committee, CMC, press briefing in Lagos last weekend, saying all shares which are not regularised at the expiration of the deadline may be forfeited.
“Accordingly, investors that bought shares of the same company during public offers, using different names, are allowed till December 31, 2018, to continue to approach their stockbrokers or registrars to regularise their shareholdings in line with SEC rules on customer identification” she stated. Following the resolutions reached at the CMC, Uduk said that a market-wide Financial Technology (FINTECH) committee would be constituted to develop a FINTECH framework for the Nigerian capital market. She said that in addition to the physical delivery of annual reports and accounts, the existing pilot exercise of electronic distribution by public companies should continue, while efforts should be made to enlighten shareholders on the importance.
In her recap on the achievement recorded in the market in the first half, HI’18, the SEC Acting DG said: “There has been aggressive use of various social media platforms to boost financial literacy campaigns such as the creation and deployment of a one minute financial literacy video on YouTube; the renovation of five warehouses by the Nigerian Commodities Exchange (NCX) in preparation for commodities trading; conclusion of about 30 cases at the Investment and Securities Tribunal (IST) from a backlog of over 50 cases; commencement of modalities to introduce the Investments and Securities Tribunal Law Reports; implementation of the recommendations of the Commodities Trading Ecosystem in phases, from 2018 to 2025 and increase in the number of shareholders who have mandated their accounts for E-Dividend payments to 2.55 million.” Punch
