The attention of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the Commission) has been drawn to the fact that paying companies and their Registrars 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.
- Shareholders are entitled to continue to claim dividends that were not statute barred (i.e. not above 12 years) before December 31, 2020 when the Finance Act 2020, came into effect.
Pending the setting up and operationalization 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. Public companies and Registrars are required to effect immediate compliance with this directive and submit periodic reports on same in the manner prescribed in the Commission’s Rules and Regulations.
