UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS

SCHOOL OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES Department Of Accounting ACC 801: ADVANCED ACCOUNTING THEORY

THE IMPACT OF UNCLAIMED DIVIDENDS ON CAPITAL MARKET DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

BY M. Sc Accounting 2011/2012 (Part-Time) GROUP 14 ADENIJI, YISA OMO-IBRAHIM, YUSUF ANTHONY, CLEVER DIBIE, STEPHEN O. AINA, OLUSEYI B. SANNI, OMOBOLAJI 119021097

LECTURER: DR S.B ADEYEMI APRIL, 2012

ABSTRACT As shareholders unclaimed dividends pile up to over N33 billion as at the third quarter of 2011, the increasing rise in the volume of unclaimed dividends in the country is a source of worry and a cause for major concern. From a little over N2 billion in 1999, the figure by the end of 2008 had risen to about N20 billion. And now market analysts estimate that by the third quarter of 2011, the amount of unclaimed dividends in the Nigerian capital market would hit N33 billion "The portion of the unclaimed dividend to should be expunged. Section 383 of CAMA which states that unclaimed dividend will be forfeited after 12 years. That potion should expunge. This is because an orphan, whose parents have invested in his or her name or in their names, will not be able to reclaim the benefit of such investments when he becomes of age because it is statute barred after 12 years. Saddled with the primary responsibility of investor protection, SEC as apex regulator of the Nigerian capital market, has repeatedly said that it would ensure that investors are not denied their right of investing in the capital market. Of course, the Investment and Securities Act (ISA) of 1999 gives SEC the power to Act in public interest having regard to the protection of investors and the maintenance of fair and orderly markets. Based on this premise, SEC said a great deal of effort has been made to put in place measures that will address the problem of unclaimed dividends.

Keywords: Capital Market, Dividends, Unclaimed dividends, in Nigeria .

INTRODUCTION The measure put in place to salvage the untold hardship of investors, the situation seems to have defied solutions as the problems of investors keeps aggravating on a daily basis. It seems as if the players in the market have left investors to their own fate now that the chips are down. The pains investors go through in the hands of Registrars of the about 220 companies listed on the Exchange have become too much that some shareholders have been forced to abandon their shares and dividend. Nigerian Breweries PLC, Bank PHB, Intercontinental Bank PLC and Diamond Bank account for N15.3 billion or 85 per cent of the N17.9 billion unclaimed dividend in the Nigerian capital Market. Shareholders of these four companies have N15.3 billion dividend declared by the companies that have not been claimed. The value of unclaimed dividend dropped however to N17.9 billion in 2008 from N19 billion in 2007. Investigation revealed that Nigerian Breweries has the highest amount of N4.4 billion representing 24 per cent of the entire unclaimed divided in the system. Bank PHB Plc (Now Keystone Bank) is second with N4.1 billion or 23 per cent , followed by Access Bank Plc with N3.5 billion (19.5 per cent) and Diamond Bank has N3.3 billion (18.4). Unclaimed dividend has in the last five years pinched capital market operators against regulators who are seeking to set up Unclaimed Dividend Trust Fund (UDTF) . Securities and Exchange Commission the apex regulatory body in the capital market had proposed a legislation to annex the unclaimed dividend into a pool to be managed by it. But shareholders have kicked against such a legislation insisting that the money rightly belongs to them. But stakeholders in the nation's financial sector have called for a new legal framework to govern the affairs of corporate entities in the country. They said that the present framework represented by the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) has been rendered obsolete by recent development in the corporate world and by international best practices.

Among other things, a cross section of finance industry operators interviewed by Vanguard newspaper called for a new regime of e-dividend and e-bonus payment which include interest payment on unclaimed dividend and removal of deadline on unclaimed dividend. Stakeholders also want the new law to recognized electronic dividend and bonus and dematerialization of share certificate; harmonization of CAMA with other laws like Banks and Other financial; proper recognition of capital reduction and share reconstruction. A company secretary in the banking industry who spoke on condition of anonymity said that there are a whole lot of things to amend about CAMA as many sections of the Act have been overtaken by events and development in recent times. She said for example some segment of CAMA conflicts with provisions of some laws enacted after it. "A classical example is the issue of annual general meeting. CAMA said that the annual general meeting must hold three months after the end of the operating year but a law like BOFIA says four months. So there is need to harmonize these laws" The managing director, Lambeth Securities Limited, David Adonri said, " CAMA still feels that the share certificate is the prima facie evidence of ownership of shares of the company. But because of advancement in information technology and the fact that we are in a paperless world, it is now important to amend that section, such that something that is kept only in the books and online document can be seen as sufficient evidence of ownership of shares of a company. This to an extent will now make the proposed dematerialization of shares certificate in the market to be in compliance with the laws of the country." On the issue unclaimed dividend, shareholder groups said that Section 383 of CAMA, which makes unclaimed dividend statue barred after 12 years, should be expunged. They also advocated for interest payment on such dividend whenever the beneficiary comes for it. They noted that CAMA has a lot of loopholes especially with respect to dividend payment, which companies exploit to the detriment of shareholders. The Chairman, Advancement for the Rights of Nigerian Shareholders, Dr. Farouk Umar

said, "The portion of the unclaimed dividend to should be expunged. Section 383 which states that unclaimed dividend will be forfeited after 12 years. That potion should expunge. This is because an orphan, whose parents have invested in his or her name or in their names, will not be able to reclaim the benefit of such investments when he becomes of age because it is statute barred after 12 years. Further, he said Section 383 does not make provision for payment of interest whenever the shareholder emerges to claim his dividends within the 12years period. So I would want a situation where the period would be limitless. In a Similar occasion, the Chairman, Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria (PSAN), Mr. Boniface Okezie said, "The position where CAMA said it should be statute -barred after12 years and the money be invested in other investments by the companies that declare them should be removed. The status quo on unclaimed dividend should be removed from CAMA. We want a situation where beneficiaries could have access to the fund at will. This means that we would want companies to hold on to the unclaimed dividend and use it in running the company pending a time that the beneficiaries or their next of kin would come for claim. So the issue of statute bared should not be there. What we are after is that beneficiaries should have the right to pick up their dividend whenever they are ready. STATEMENT OF RESERCH PROBLEM It is not an easy task to be an investor or shareholder of quoted companies in Nigeria these days. the pains that shareholders are going through in the hands of company registrars in the process of verifying share certificates, irregular signatures, unclaimed dividends, missing mails, impersonation among others.

Investing in shares of quoted companies in Nigeria has continued to go with catalogue of problems. Investors and shareholders are lamenting how they are being deprived of the benefits of their investments by the registrars, the companies entrusted with the responsibility of keeping their registers, Even the so called large corporation such as the

likes of Nigeria Breweries, Bank PHB, Intercontinental Bank, Diamond bank, Law Union, Linkage Assurance and Oasis making was seen parading large amount of unclaimed dividend in the last few decade, unclaimed dividend has been mounting while the accountability, the restoration of investment trust has been greatly lost. Unclaimed dividend has risen to N33 billion in 2011. What is then the position of CAMA towards reducing the alarming rate of unclaimed dividend? OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY Unclaimed dividend could be minimized with the following listed 1. Unnecessary delayed in dividend warrants issued to the shareholders should stop
2. To improve the efficiency of the postal system.

3. orphan, whose parents have invested in his or her name or in their names, should reclaim the benefit of such investments when they becomes of age
4. A computerised application form of beneficiary should show extensive information such as telephone number and Next-of-kin. 5. To intensify drive towards e-dividend and e-bonus. 6. Securities and Exchange Commission should show surveillance over formulating principles and protecting the investors. 7. Dividend warrant should be lodged into the savings account, regardless of the status of the account (dormant or not) account dividend payment must be made into bank accounts. RESEARCH QUESTION The main research problem was broken down into sub-problems stated as research questions, which guided the study. Attempts were made in the course of the research to resolve the following questions which were raised: 1 Does the e-payment system drive home the claiming of dividend of companies

listed on stock market? 2 Why do corporations convert unclaimed dividend to working capital instead of

investing such in an investment outside the company? 3 Does the rejection of the unclaimed dividend trust fund bill as proposed by the

National Assembly deviate from the recommendation of CAMA?

Should the status quo after 12 years statute barred on unclaimed dividend be

removed from CAMA? 5 Are the SEC and CBN working in the best interest of the investors?

RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

A lot of controversy has been raised on the issue of unclaimed dividend. We have studied this matter fully and feel that there are basically two contentions here. First, is the companies claiming the right to control the unclaimed dividend and secondly, SEC claiming that after 12 years the unclaimed dividend should be placed under its custody just like any other property without a heir is placed under the care of the government. We are of the view that between these two views is lost the interest of the heirs of the owner of the unclaimed dividend. We think that the correct approach is to have an agency which can be SEC with power to investigate and trace the next of kin of owners of unclaimed dividend.this study will be attempting to test the following hypothesis. The null hypotheses stated below, were tested in order to provide answers to the research questions mentioned. Ho: Is the null hypothesis H1: Is the alternative hypothesis

1 Ho: The unclaimed dividend should not be plow back into the companies until the owners come forth to claim it. H1: The unclaimed dividend should be ploughed back into the companies until the owners come forth to claim it.
2 Ho: keying into the e- dividend platform will not reduce the trend and the amount of unclaimed dividend in Nigeria H1: keying into the e- dividend platform will reduce the trend and the amount of unclaimed dividend in

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY Nigeria Breweries topping the list of unclaimed dividend in Nigeria followed by Bank PHB, Intercontinental Bank, Diamond bank, Law Union, Linkage Assurance and Oasis making the least From a little over N2 billion in 1999, the figure by the end of 2008 had risen to about N18 billion. But market analysts estimate that by the third quarter of 2011, the amount of unclaimed dividends in the Nigerian capital market would hit about N28 billionN2.09 is trend as continue and has been as source of concern for Nigerian stock Exchange. This study will be beneficial in the following areas:

Publication of details of unclaimed dividends in the annual reports of

listed companies or in a special publication to be distributed to all shareholders, the SEC and the NSE
2 It will awaken the spirit of good managing of unclaimed dividend of company

listed in Nigeria giving the Nigeria Stock Exchange the Security and Exchange commission the implementation of these principles.

All investment advisers, broker-dealers and other market operators who

may have unclaimed dividends of clients in their possession and have no authorization from their clients to reinvest or hold such unclaimed dividends on their behalf, will be required to report and submit a list of such clients and return the dividends to the registrar of the equity in question.
4 It seeks to show the methods through which the problem of unclaimed dividend

would be solved without necessarily having to liquidate the firm because of the problem. 5 The SEC will require listed companies to make general announcements in the

mass media- print and electronic and such other investor relations vehicles as newsletters, house journals, websites etc. to remind shareholders who have not claimed their dividends in previous dividend declaration years to come forward to claim.

The SEC may direct that such announcements be carried for three to four

successive times after each dividend declaration year 7 It seeks to provide practical advice to assist Nigeria Stock Exchange the Security

and Exchange commission who must act to achieve the set objectives of reducing the unclaimed dividend ragging for years 8 Listed companies and their registrars and all market operators holding

unclaimed dividends should forward a list of all unclaimed dividends and names of affected investors to the SEC.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY There were some limitations experienced during the course of carrying out this research work. In a research of this kind, the need for reasonable amount of empirical data in making a meaningful conclusion and generalization cannot be over emphasized. The following were the limitations encountered: 1 A sizeable quantity of the information obtained from the financial paper and

internets were in fragments and sometimes complex 2 3 Most of those interviewed respondents were either biased or not honest. Inability to get a random sample due to concentration only in the west

geographical region 4 Challenges of managing an unclaimed dividend of listed companies in Nigeria is

relatively an endemic problem of unclaimed dividends, complexity, difficulty in gathering cogent information. 5 6 7 8 An inability to answer your research questions Theoretical and conceptual problems ability to effectively answer your research questions proved cumbersome Several participants in the study expressed the view that they are undecided

SECTION TWO REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Despite the efforts by the Securities and Exchange Commission to erase the use of paper certificate and replace it with electronic certificate only 30 per cent of the shareholders have complied, while five per cent of declared dividends in the past 10 years are unclaimed. Speaking in Lagos at a forum organized by the Capital Market Correspondent Association of Nigeria held by Nigerian Stock Exchange, the managing director of First Registrar, Bayo Olugbemi lamented that two years after the exercise was flagged off, only 30 per cent of shareholders have complied, Daily Trust gathered that over N400 billion dividends have been declared by companies listed in the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in the past 10 years. Of the amount, the unclaimed dividends are not more than N20 billion. This represents about five per cent of over N400 billion. He said the Unclaimed Dividends Trust Bill initiated by SEC and currently before the National Assembly did not take cognizance of the shareholders emphasizing that the bill if eventually passed may not address the problem. E-dividend payment system requires that shareholders submit their bank' details to the registrars to enable them process their dividends. Once the dividends are paid, the shareholders would be alerted within 24 hours. To solve the problem, SEC said it advised shareholders to subscribe to electronic dividend payment system. In order to reduce the amount of unclaimed dividend in the country, shareholders have been advised to embrace the e-dividend platform that has been introduced to the capital market. The managing director, First Registrars Limited, Mr. Bayo Olugbemi pledged that shareholders should key into the e- dividend platform, stressing that this will go a long way in reducing the amount of unclaimed dividend. According to him, less than 30 per cent of shareholders had keyed into the e-

dividend which is not encouraging. Mr. Olugbemi disclosed that banks have been ordered to honour dividend warrants that are paid into savings accounts. According to him, what shareholders need to do to key into the e-dividend is to pick the e-dividend authorization form and fill it and submit it to the bank. In that way the bank will have no reason why it should not honour dividend warrant paid into the account. He said further that shareholders who do not receive their dividends fall among those with outdated data. According him, the outdated data include change of residence, change of bank accounts, and change of name and to worsen the situation, the intended bill on unclaimed dividend was not on how to reach the shareholders but institution that would manage the money.
Furthermore, Olugbemi noted that despite the support given to dematerialization, share certificates are still relevant adding that in South Africa where there are greater compliant to etransactions in the capital market share certificates still operate. He stated that the jobs of the Registrars are hampered by many challenges that bother on investors resistance to change, expensive system on the shareholders side, regulatory policies, and poor investors enlightenment. Others he noted include; slow pace of national payment system, banks reluctance to accept investors dividend in saving accounts, sale of unauthorized stocks that have become rampant, lack of transparency among operators and shallowness of the Nigerian capital market. He therefore, called on shareholders to embrace e- transactions since the process makes transactions and payment faster to reduce the alarming rate of the unclaimed dividend in Nigeria. In World War 11 thousands of Jewish families living in Germany and German territories transferred their wealth to Swiss banks in an attempt to safeguard their possessions from the Nazis. After defeat, the Swiss Banks made it difficult for either survivors or heirs to reclaim their assets. To avoid returning this wealth, the banks required detailed information from claimants about bank accounts, life insurance policies and other financial data to process claims filed by heirs. Because survivors were unlikely to have documentation of assets ownership and

because death certificates were not issued at concentration camps, Swiss banks took the threat of escalating sanction against the Swiss bank by the World Jewish Congress (WJC) to get the Swiss bank to succumb to demands by the survivors and heirs. Even till date many claims have still not been perfected. This is closely related to the likelihood of the issue of unclaimed dividends in Nigerian stock market. A recent study of the dividend records of 183 companies for the period 1999 to 2002 revealed that over N7.2billion was still outstanding as unclaimed dividend and there is no cherry news in the offing on this issue. In Nigeria, the recommendation of CAMA which has already made adequate provision for the treatment of unclaimed dividends that the volume of unclaimed dividend is insignificant with most of these already statute barred. Investigation by Financial Vanguard however revealed that companies have continued to treat unclaimed dividend as stipulated in the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 1990.

The CAMA states that dividends which remain unclaimed after fifteen months of being declared are supposed to have been returned to the company from which the beneficiary/investor may make a claim not later than twelve years afterwards. Subsequently, such unclaimed dividends are considered statute-barred and thus forfeited by the shareholders. According to sections 379 and 386 of CAMA:

(a) Where dividends are returned to the company unclaimed, the company shall send a list of the names of the persons entitled with notice of the next Annual General Meeting to the members, b) After the expiration of three months notice, the company may invest the unclaimed dividend for its own benefit in an investment outside the company and no interest shall accrue on the dividends against the company.

c) Such dividends are to be regarded as special debts due to and recoverable by shareholders within 12 years and actionable only when declared.

The above true life story could be likened to the issue of unclaimed dividends in the Nigerian stock market and the politicking surrounding same. A recent study of the dividend records of

183 companies for the period 1999 to 2002 revealed that over N7.2billion was still outstanding as unclaimed dividend and there is no cherry news in the offing on this issue. A summary of the provision of Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 1990 part xiii, section 5(382) and (385) explains that dividends are declared from a companys distributable profit and where they are returned unclaimed, even after sending a list of such dividends with the companys annual report and accounts, the company may invest the dividend monies for the benefit of shareholders.

Dividends are recoverable by shareholders within 12 years and actionable only when declared. Dividends are said to be unclaimed after 15 months of being declared and paid. But it is statute barred after 12 years.

Some public quoted companies allow their Registrars to keep their statute barred dividend accounts as the shareholders concerned still trickle in to collect their dividend

Nigerias growing unclaimed dividends

According to Odion Makinde, who has been working with the Nigerian Postal Service for the past 20 years, realized that dividend warrants were among the numerous documents for delivery that receive little or no attention from staff. For more than one year, a large heap of them (meant for dispatch) to no fewer than 30,000 investors in the eastern part of the country occupied one corner in his expansive office in Marina, central Lagos. The documents were not only gathering dust, but very many got swept away as no one was committed to ensuring their safety or eventual delivery to the owners. The result is a continued rise in the volume of unclaimed dividends in the country. From a little over N2 billion in 1999, the figure by the end of 2008 had risen to about N18 billion. But market analysts estimate that by the third quarter of 2011, the amount of unclaimed dividends in the Nigerian capital market would hit about N28 billion, Investigations shown that the majority of investors pay little attention to their dividend

warrants because they believe that the amount involved is not worth going through the cumbersome process of cashing them. Many retail investors, some of them well educated, do not find the small amounts, usually three to four figure dividend warrants, attractive enough to pursue. It is the sum of these small amount unclaimed dividend that have increased to N33 billion today, said Rose Ubong, a stock market analyst based in Lagos stating that another class of investors comprising largely of students and low income earners is also not aware that operating a current account is a basic prerequisite for cashing ones dividend warrants. There is an alternative standard practice that shareholders who do not operate current accounts could use to claim the value of their dividends, which is also not known to many of this class of retail investors. After receiving a dividend warrant, the shareholder simply endorses it to a current account holder who will in turn release the cash equivalent to the shareholder. Adding to the above point, she said that there are other constraints too; incorrect addresses, non-functional post office boxes and inability to update contact addresses upon relocation, all contribute to the late or non-receipt of dividend warrants. A large chunk of unclaimed dividends also belong to shareholders who are dead without any record of their next of kin. Often, even when this information has been provided, the difficult processes involved in making the claims serve as another hurdle. There are cases where protracted legal battle over the administration of the estate of a deceased shareholder has resulted in unclaimed dividends for several years. Again, this contributes largely to the rising cases of unclaimed dividends. Further, she said, due to inefficient postal services and laxity on the part of some shareholders, some dividend warrants do not get to their destinations within their validity period. A dividend warrant, like a normal cheque, carries a validity period of six months, but a dividend is classified as unclaimed after 15 months upon issue. After this period, the dividend is supposed to be returned to the issuing company from which an investor can still make a claim but not later than 12 years.

By the regulation of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), it is only after 12 years that an investor is deemed to have forfeited his dividend. But a stale dividend can be revalidated by the registrar by issuing another dividend warrant where the beneficiary meets some basic requirements, which include physical appearance at the registrars office. However, market operators still contend that this SEC provision is a major flaw that must be reviewed to make way for solving the unclaimed dividend problem.

By SEC records, Nigerian Breweries tops the list of quoted companies that have a case of unclaimed dividends with N4.42 billion. Bank PHB is next on the list with N4.15 billion followed by Intercontinental Bank, which has N3.5 billion and Diamond Bank with N3.34 billion, to mention but a few.

The SEC has found out that most unclaimed dividends are being used as working capital by companies contrary to the provision of Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), which stipulates that such monies should be invested outside the company. When a company uses unclaimed dividends as capital, aside from distorting that companys actual financial position, whenever such a company goes under, the unclaimed dividend will also be lost. Steps are being taken to resolve the problem of unclaimed dividends. The President of Shareholders Solidarity Association of Nigeria, Timothy Adesiyan, has suggested that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) regards dividend warrants as special cheques, which should not go stale. He said if the law is made to exempt warrants from the stipulated six-month period for cheque expiration, the volume of unclaimed dividends will be drastically reduced. There is also the need for enlightenment of the investing public,

from regulators of the capital market and government agencies to all categories of shareholders, to acquaint them with the workings of the capital market. It is also expected that the soon-to-be-operational electronic e-dividend payment system will assist in solving the problem.

The Pains of Investors unclaimed dividends

It is not an easy task to be an investor or shareholder of quoted companies in Nigeria these days. Shareholders are continually going through pains in the hands of company registrars in the process of verifying share certificates, irregular signatures, unclaimed dividends, missing mails, impersonation among others. Investing in shares of quoted companies in Nigeria has continued to grow with catalogue of problems. Investors and shareholders are lamenting how they are being deprived of the benefits of their investments by the registrars, the companies entrusted with the responsibility of keeping their registers, delayed dividend warrants, among others. The company's major problem, according to observers was the huge volume of investors' and shareholders' funds under its management. It has been moribund for several years, with investors activities whittled down considerably. It has however been battling with a major problem of reconciling investors registers of African Petroleum (AP) Plc, since it took over few years ago. Shareholders of the petroleum marketing company had registered their protest over the inability of the company to verify shareholders certificates on public offer undertaken by the oil company for more than seven years. In the past three years, there has been an unprecedented increase in the activities of the capital market. This affects not only the Registrars, but also all the other operators in the capital market. However, because of the key roles of the Registrars, most especially both at the primary and the secondary market levels of the capital

market, this beamed the searchlight on Registrars capability to handle the surge. Along this line of thought, the Registrars are responding positively to meet up in terms of processes and procedures re-engineering which include Information Technology, strategy, and even quality human capital composition. All these geared towards meeting up with the increase in the volume of activity in the capital market and unclaimed dividend as major challenges. Due to the alarming rise in the rate of unclaimed dividend, companies as been faced with challenge which are consistently evolving; better and faster ways of doing leading to the claiming of unclaimed dividend by the investors. This relentless quest has incrementally paid off in the last 18 months with various innovations. Before now, verification process of claiming dividend takes an average of six months and now it has being whittled down to 72 hours, then 48 hours. At the moment we are almost perfecting the strategy for a 24 working hour verification, but this is possible if the dividend warrant sent to the shareholders are received, claimed and paid into the bank with the use of the e-dividend and the e-bonus measures in place,. Addressing the issue on pile up of unclaimed dividend, the National Coordinator of the Renaissance Shareholders Association of Nigeria (RSAN), Mr. Timothy Olufemi disclosed that the real issue relating to shareholders non receipt of dividend warrant and bonus shares issued to them, several years or months after being awarded by the companies, was because the registrars kept making lot of mistakes during allotment process, by misplacing certificates to subscribers, stating that there was a need for the companies whose shareholders had not received the share certificates and dividend warrants to find out where the faults lied. The National Coordinator of Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria (PSAN), Mr. Boniface Okezie stating further that what had given credence to the ugly incidence was the inability of the apex regulatory authority of the capital market, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC),

While the Managing Director of First Registrars Limited, Mr. Bayo Olugbemi admitted however, that serious challenges had been associated with managing investors and shareholders in terms of dividend warrants and share certificates.Firstly, he confessed that this is a very big problem; the rate of unclaimed dividend warrants is very traumatic. The challenges he highlighted were changes in address or residence without informing the registrars. Secondly, we have seen instances whereby some shareholders dont pay for their Post Office boxes, and when they fail to pay NIPOST and after a while remained dormant, dividends warrant are sent to the same box, and what happens is that, it is either they are sent back sometimes as unclaimed or not even returned to us at all. Thanks to the e-dividend payment option. As a matter of fact, all registrars are on their knees now praying fervently that the e-dividend payment should be a success, because what it means is that after the declaration of the dividends at the annual general meetings, everyone can go to sleep, with their two eyes closed. And like we preach in the Institute of Capital Market Registrars when we have executive meetings and what we tell our staff is that, if you are not ready to invest in information technology, then you better forget this business. And presently, if you go to any one of them, you would find out that we are all working on how we can improve in our information technology, because of the e-offer, e-dividend, e-bonus, e-allotments, we have all appreciated the need to have a robust Information Technology because this is key among the issues we discuss at our executive meetings.

Apex regulator sidetracks postal system in dividend payment

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is set to strengthen e-dividend payments in the Nigerian capital market, (NCM). This has become necessary with the level of unclaimed dividends in the system increasing on a yearly basis. Since the beginning of the year the apex regulator has been worried over the increased number of unclaimed dividends; querying the registrars whose responsibility it is to dispatch warrants to beneficiaries.

Presently, an estimated N17.9 billion is said to have accumulated over the years as unclaimed

dividend. The regulator is obviously worried over this situation and has been doing everything within its power to achieve a reduction of this figure by ensuring the funds get o their rightful owners. Addressing the issue last week at a seminar organised by Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC), a senior SEC official, Bala Usman told stakeholders that among other measures to ensure improved dividend administration, SEC has directed that registrars of companies should make direct remittance of dividends to shareholders via a schedule to banks.

Collecting banks should be responsible for the collection of dividend warrants for their customers without negligence. To facilitate the efficiency of operations and meet this mandate, SEC further recommends full computerization of operations of registrar departments in the shortest possible time. The shareholders are also required to maintain bank accounts whether current or savings. It however needs be pointed out that by this directive SEC seeks a more investor-friendly capital market where all players irrespective of class would be able to reap the fruits of their investments without going through unnecessary difficulty. SEC is coming with this measure after a careful assessment of the factors that had contributed to the problem of unclaimed dividend in the stock market. Usman identified these causes to include low dividend amount, lack of investors knowledge about the system, wrong addressing, incomplete addressing and change of address by investors without notifying the registrar. Others are delay of the postal system, bank minimum deposit requirement which small investor are not able to meet and death of an investor.

When dividend warrants get to their owners six months after the date of issue, they would have expired and therefore will not be honoured for payment by the receiving bank. When this happens, the shareholder is expected to take the warrant back to the registrar for re-validation. This delay is however rampant due to the inefficiency of the postal system. If SEC in partnership with other regulators especially the CBN gets this latest measure enforced to the later, then cases of expired dividend warrants would also be a thing of the past. However, this latest move by the regulator is seen in furtherance of electronic share transaction agenda such as e-dividend, e-bonus and others. The e-dividend has been delayed by a number of factors which border on the investors and the registrars. Direct remittance of dividend warrants has always been in the system but less utilised by investors while some registrars find

reasons not to adopt it. The difference between this method and e-dividend is in the routing. While the former has to do with taking the physical dividend warrants to the banks for crediting shareholders accounts the later is a seamless method and would normally involve bank clearing system. This also ensures money get to the accounts of beneficiaries within 24 hours of the payment date. According to Usman, in order to take care of the above loopholes SEC has decided that every investor should maintain an account while banks have been mandated to accept dividend warrants into savings account. Before now, dividend warrants were only accepted into current accounts. However, it is a fact that many small investors and illiterates usually do not operate current account.

According to the SEC source, total sum of unclaimed dividend by companies with large holdings amounts to N15.4 billion while the sum by companies with minimal holdings stands at N16 million which sums up to N15.5 billion as at December 31, 2008.

Of these figures, Nigerian Breweries has the highest amount with N4.4 billion representing 24 percent of the entire unclaimed divided in the system. The next is Bank PHB with N4.1 billion, Intercontinental, Bank plc holds N3.5 billion while Diamond Bank has N3.3 billion. As SEC drives its efforts at ensuring reduction in incidences of unclaimed dividend, the management of this accumulated fund remains another source of headache which it is still trying to find solution to in conjunction with shareholder associations.

Unclaimed dividends are the rewards of investment made in securities of public quoted companies, paid out by the various companies but remain unclaimed by the rightful owners 15 months after being declared.

Addressing the endemic problem of unclaimed dividends,

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sponsored an executive bill in 2004 seeking to establish common trust funds for unclaimed dividend to be managed by a government agency. While introducing the bill, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had argued that the proposed law would give necessary legal

protection to the pool of unclaimed dividends that had accumulated over the years. The amount is estimated at about N20 billion as at the end of 2011. SEC as apex regulator of the Nigerian Capital Market has repeatedly said that it would ensure that investors are not denied their right of investing in the capital market. Of course, the Investment and Securities Act (ISA) of 1999 gives SEC the power to Act in public interest having regard to the protection of investors and the maintenance of fair and orderly markets which is saddled with the primary responsibility of investor protection. Based on this premise, SEC said a great deal of effort has been made to put in place measures that will address the problem of unclaimed dividends. Since 2004 when the bill first appeared in the lower chamber of the national assembly through 2005 when it was subjected to public hearing, the bill has faced numerous hurdles as informed stakeholders mounted opposition against its passage into law.

At the May 2005 public hearing at the Hearing Room 1 of the House of Representatives, views of operators and the general public had weighed heavily against passage of the bill simply introduced as Unclaimed Dividends Bill.
In consideration of superior arguments canvassed by stakeholders and informed general public, the proposed law was eventually stood down only for it to resurface recently as Unclaimed Dividends and Abandoned Property Bill.

If passed into law, the bill would have resulted in establishment of a Trust Fund for unclaimed funds accruing to the coffers of public companies, thereby bringing an end of retention of unclaimed funds by registrars which ordinarily return the money to the coffers of originating public companies after the unclaimed dividend becomes statue barred. But if the proposed bill is passed into law, owners of unclaimed dividends are likely to lose it to the trust fund as the new bill provides that after about six months, unclaimed dividends become statue barred and will be reverted to the trust fund going to be managed by government agency. This is a sharp departure from the current practice where unclaimed dividends are kept in custody for 12 years before it is regarded as status barred and returned to the company from which the dividends are paid.

CAMA STATUTORY STANDING ON ISSUE OF UNCLAIMED DIVIDEND

The Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 1990, stipulate that dividends, which remain unclaimed after 15 months of being declared, should be returned to the firm from where the beneficiary/investor may make a claim not later than 12 years. Afterwards, such unclaimed dividends are considered statute-barred and thus forfeited by the shareholders. According to sections 379 - 386 of CAMA:

Where dividends are returned to the company unclaimed, the company shall

send a list of the names of the persons entitled with notice of the next yearly general meeting to the members;

after the expiration of three months notice, the company may invest the

unclaimed dividend for its own benefit in an investment outside the company and no interest shall accrue on the dividends against the company; and

Such dividends are to be regarded as special debts due to and recoverable by

shareholders within 12 years and actionable only when declared. In line with this provision the commission has spearheaded the agitation for the amendment to the CAMA. To this end it has set up committee to critically look at and proffer solutions to the issue of unclaimed dividend. In an authority stated by Investment and Securities Act (ISA) 1999 mandate the Securities and Exchange Commission to protect the interest of investors in the capital market?

SECTION THREE METHODOLOGY

INTRODUCTION

The issue of unclaimed dividends is therefore of current concern of the Commission. In the light of this, and in the interest of investor protection, the SEC wishes to propose the following actions for the comments of market operators. These comments will form the basis of the final set of principles, guidelines, regulations or legislations on the treatment of unclaimed dividends that the SEC intends to issue to the market soon. Saunders et al., (2007) stated that studies that establish causal relationships between variables may be termed explanatory studies. They emphasized that this has to do with studying a situation or a problem in order to explain the relationships between variables. Since this study is on managing unclaimed dividend of quoted companies in Nigeria,
population of the study is made up of companies listed on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). A sample consisting of companies listed on the NSE was considered a good representation of quoted companies in Nigeria since the ultimate test of a sample design is how well it represents the characteristics of the population it purports to represent sample of Seventy (75) was used. Data collection and analysis refers to the totality of all actions or activities relating to the management, presentation or combination of units of data already collected in order to show relationship between them, SPSS was used to analyze our date. Chi-Square test x, which is a statistical tool of SPSS that enables the researcher to establish if there is any relationship between two variables in the total population, was adopted as our hypothesis test. It is clearly one of the simplest and most popular non parametric tests in applies statistics, the computation of chi-squared is based on the formula

The researcher chose to use the Chi-Square test as the research tool because of its simplicity. The Chi-Square test x is a statistical tool that enables the researcher to establish if there is any relationship between two variables in the total population.

DECISION RULE. The calculated value of is compared with the table value (critical value) of x for the given degrees of freedom at a certain specified level of significance.
If the calculated value of x is more than the value of x the difference between theory and observation is considered significant, in other words, were the computed value is greater than the critical value, the null hypothesis is rejected which the alternative hypothesis is accepted.

If the computed value of x is less than the table value of x the difference between theory and the observation is considered less significant. Therefore the null hypothesis is accepted while the alternative hypothesis is rejected. DATA ANALYSIS INTRODUCTION
Presenting the results of the analysis performed on the data collected to test the propositions made in the study and answer the research questions. Analyses were carried out with the aid of the Statistical Package for Social Science. It is pertinent to note that the presentation and the analysis of the raw data collection is the means by which the research question raised are answered.

The data used were gathered 75 copies of the questionnaire that was administered and also from the listed companies used as sample are the Nigeria breweries, Access Bank, Oasis Insurance. Data analysis is done with the use SPSS using Chi-Square test and in the overall context of the objective of the study. DATA REPRESENTAION

The data resulting from the research instrument are now presented, analyzed and discussed in order to arrive at a conclusive conclusion.
QUESTION 1: Single registry outfit by SEC and CBN collaboration will reduce the alarming rate of unclaimed dividend

TABLE 4.1 Options No Respondent Strongly agree Agree Not sure Disagree Strongly disagree Totals 70 100 30 20 5 7 8 43 29 7 10 11 of %

Source: researchers field (2011)

The result of the research stated above showed that 72% (43%+29%) hold the view that Single registry outfit by SEC and CBN collaboration will reduce the alarming rate of unclaimed dividend , 21%(10%+11%) totally disagrees with the statement, while 7% are not sure.

QUESTION 2: Unclaimed dividends should be ploughed back to the companies in an investment outside the company's own investments. TABLE 4.2 Options No Respondent Strongly agree Agree Not sure Disagree Strongly disagree Totals 70 100 33 13 10 9 5 47 19 14 13 7 of %

Source: researchers field (2011) The result of the research stated showed that 66% (47%+19%) agrees with the statement, 20% (13%+7%) disagrees with it while 14% are not sure. It is concluded here that, Unclaimed dividends be plowed back to the companies than have government take investors' monies

QUESTION 3: Listed companies and their registrars and all market operators holding unclaimed dividends will be required to forward a list of all unclaimed dividends and names of affected investors to the SEC. TABLE 4.3 Options No Respondent Strongly agree Agree Not sure Disagree Strongly disagree Totals 70 100 55 10 5 0 0 79 14 7 0 0 of %

Source: researchers field (2011) As much as 73%(79%+14%) are of the opinion that Listed companies and their registrars and all market operators holding unclaimed dividends will be required to forward a list of all unclaimed dividends and names of affected investors to the SEC, and only 7% are not sure.

QUESTION 4: Publication of details of unclaimed dividends in the annual reports of listed companies or in a special publication to be distributed to all shareholders, the SEC and the NSE

TABLE 4.4 Options No Respondent Strongly agree Agree Not sure Disagree Strongly disagree Totals 70 100 43 20 7 0 0 61 29 10 0 0 of %

Source: researchers field (2011)

As much as 73%(79%+14%) are of the opinion that Publication of details of unclaimed dividends in the annual reports of listed companies or in a special publication to be distributed to all shareholders, the SEC and the NSE and only 7% are not sure.

QUESTION 5: CAMA recommendation renders the best solution to unclaimed dividend within 12 years TABLE 4.5

Options

No Respondent

of %

Strongly agree Agree Not sure Disagree Strongly disagree Totals

25 16 13 9 7

36 23 18 13 10

70

100

Source: researchers field (2011)

The result of the research stated showed that 59% (36%+23%) are of the opinion that CAMA has specified better treatment of unclaimed dividend, 23% (13%+10%) totally disagrees with the statement, while 18% are not sure.

QUESTION 6: E-dividend and E-bonus will reduce unclaimed dividend

TABLE 4.6

Options

No Respondent

of %

Strongly agree Agree Not sure Disagree Strongly disagree Totals

44 18 5 2 1

63 26 7 3 1

70

100

Source: researchers field (2011) As much as 89% (63%+26%) is of the view that E-dividend and E-bonus will reduce unclaimed dividend, 4% (3%+1%) is of the view that will not reduce the unclaimed dividend while only 7% are not sure.

QUESTION 7: The status quo after 12 years statute barred on unclaimed dividend should be removed from CAMA and the years are limitless. TABLE 4.7

Options

No Respondent

of %

Strongly agree Agree Not sure Disagree Strongly disagree Totals

38 9 7 5 11

54 13 10 7 16

70

100

Source: researchers field (2011)

As much as 67%(54%+13%) of the respondents are of the opinion that the status quo after 12 years statute barred on unclaimed dividend be removed from CAMA and the years be limitless, 29%(16%+7%) disagrees with the statement, while 10% are not sure.

SPSS TESTING OF HYPOTHESIS USING CHI-SQUARE STATISTICS A hypothesis is a probabilistic statement about the relationship between variables. The statistical tool used for this hypothesis testing is the Chi-Square test. e Where: o = observed frequency e = expected frequency

chance Hypothesis 1

Ho: The unclaimed dividend should not be plow back into the companies until the owners come forth to claim it. H1: The unclaimed dividend should be ploughed back into the companies until the owners come forth to claim it.
For the purpose of this study, question 1, 2 3 will be used for the hypothesis testing

QUESTION 1: Single registry outfit by SEC and CBN collaboration will reduce the alarming rate of unclaimed dividend

QUESTION 2: Unclaimed dividends be ploughed back to the companies in an investment other than the company's own investments QUESTION 3: Listed companies and their registrars and all market operators holding unclaimed dividends will be required to forward a list of all unclaimed dividends and names of affected investors to the SEC.

No of respondents

Options Strongly agree Agree Not sure Disagree Strongly disagree Totals

Q1

Q2

Q3

Total 118 43 20 16 13 210

30 20 5 7 8 70

33 13 10 9 5 70

55 10 5 0 0 70

Source: researchers field (2011)

Calculation of expected frequency (fe) RT *CT GT Where : TR = Raw table CT =Column total GT= Grand total

RC 11=70*118 210 = 39.33 RC 21=70*43 210 =14.33 RC 31=70*20 210 =6.66 RC 41=70*16 210 =5.33 RC 51=70*13 165 =4.33

RC 12=70*118 210 = 39.33 RC 22=70*43 210 =14.33 RC 32=70*20 210 =6.66 RC 42=70*16 210 =5.33 RC 52=70*13 165 =4.33

RC 13=70*118 210 = 39.33 RC 23=70*43 210 =14.33 RC 33=70*20 210 =6.66 RC 43=70*16 210 =5.33 RC 53=70*13 165 =4.33

Chi-Square (
0 e 0 e (0 (0 e

30 20 5 7 8

39.33 14.33 6.66 5.33 4.33

-9.33 5.67 -1.66 1.67 3.67

87.05 32.15 2.76 2.79 13.47

2.21 2.24 0.41 0.52 3.11

33 13 10 9 5 55 10 5 0 0

39.33 14.33 6.66 5.33 4.33 39.33 14.33 6.66 5.33 4.33

-6.33 -1.33 3.34 3.67 0.67 15.67 -4.33 -1.66 -5.33 -4.33

40.07 1.77 11.16 13.47 0.45 245.55 18.75 2.76 28.41 18.75

1.02 0.12 1.68 2.53 0.10 6.24 1.31 0.41 5.33 4.33

31.58

Source: researchers field (2011)

DECISION RULE: Accept Ho if empirical X2<table X2 Table X2 Degree of freedom = (R-1) (C-1) (5-1) (3-1) (4) (2) =8 At 20% significant level = 11.030

The computed value of 31.58 is greater than the critical value of 11.030 and not falls into the acceptance region. Therefore the null hypothesis is rejected and the alternative hypothesis is accepted. It is concluded that the unclaimed dividend should be ploughed back into the companies until the owners come forth to claim it.

Hypothesis 2 Ho: keying into the e- dividend platform will not reduce the trend and the amount of unclaimed dividend in Nigeria H1: keying into the e- dividend platform will reduce the trend and the amount of unclaimed dividend in

For the purpose of this study, question 4, 6, 7 will be used for the hypothesis testing for proceeds of their investments in unclaimed QUESTION 4: Publication of details of unclaimed dividends in the annual reports of listed companies or in a special publication to be distributed to all shareholders, the SEC and the NSE QUESTION 5: CAMA recommendation renders the best solution to unclaimed dividend within 12 years

QUESTION 6: E-dividend and E-bonus will reduce unclaimed dividend

QUESTION 7: The status quo after 12 years statute barred on unclaimed dividend be removed from CAMA and the years be limitless.
No of respondents

Options Strongly agree Agree Not sure Disagree Strongly disagree Totals

Q4

Q6

Q7

Total

43 20 7 0 0 70

44 18 5 2 1 70

38 9 7 5 11 70

125 47 19 7 12 210

Source: researchers field (2011)

Calculation of expected frequency (fe) RT *CT GT Where : TR = Raw table CT =Column total GT= Grand total
RC 11=70*125 210 = 41.66 RC 21=70*47 210 =15.66 RC 31=70*19 210 =6.33 RC 41=70*7 210 =2.33 RC 51=70*12 165 =4 RC 12=70*125 210 = 41.66 RC 22=70*47 210 =15.66 RC 32=70*19 210 =6.33 RC 42=70*7 210 =2.33 RC 52=70*12 165 =4 RC 13=70*125 210 = 41.66 RC 23=70*47 210 =15.66 RC 33=70*19 210 =6.33 RC 43=70*7 210 =2.33 RC 53=70*12 165 =4

Chi-Square (
0 e 0 e (0 (0

43 20 7 0 0 44 18 5 2 1 38 9 7 5 11

41.66 15.66 6.33 2.33 4 41.66 15.66 6.33 2.33 4 41.66 15.66 6.33 2.33 4
X
2

1.34 4.34 0.67 -2.33 -4 2.34 2.34 -1.33 -0.33 -3 -3.66 -6.66 0.67 2.67 7

1.80 18.84 0.45 5.43 16.00 5.48 5.48 1.77 0.11 9.00 13.40 44.36 0.45 7.13 49.00

0.04 1.20 0.07 2.33 4.00 0.13 0.35 0.28 0.05 2.25 0.32 2.83 0.07 3.06 12.25

29.24

Source: researchers field (2011)

DECISION RULE: Accept Ho if empirical X 2<table X
2

Table X at 20% significant level Degree of freedom = (R-1) (C-1)

(5-1) (3-1) (4) (2) =8 At 20% significant level = 11.030 The computed value of 29.24 is greater than the critical value of 11.030 and not falls into the acceptance region. Therefore the null hypothesis is rejected and the alternative hypothesis is accepted. It is concluded that keying into the e- dividend platform will reduce the trend and the amount of unclaimed dividend in Nigeria.

SECTION FIVE: SUMMARY, FINDING, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS.

The SEC intends to take measures to reduce the incidence of unclaimed dividends in the capital market. The contentious issue of unclaimed dividend has been a long standing one. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed to set up a body to take the funds off the books of the companies to be managed separately. The amount has risen to N33 billion over the years in the mid 2011, although, the last attempt to set up the fund was rejected by the National Assembly due to bone of contention by the capital market analyst in2011 in a public outcry. The latest move seeks to lump the unclaimed dividend with other funds under the Unclaimed Dividends, Dormant Accounts and Abandoned Property Bill, for which a public hearing was held which generated much criticism by both the capital market analyst and the shareholder in large. The moves by the House of Representatives committee on capital market to revisit the unclaimed dividends issue has been describe d as overzealous, in the light of more pressing national issues.

I am of the view that the Capital Market Solicitors Association (CMSA) decision on the issue should be resolved with consideration for the interest of the heirs of the owners of the unclaimed dividends. The correct approach is to have an agency, which can be SEC, with power to investigate and trace the next of kin of owners of unclaimed dividend. The company with claimed dividend is to be made obliged to refer to SEC or the agency for investigation once the unclaimed dividend is outstanding for six years. CONCLUSION The Securities and Exchange Commission views the issue of unclaimed / unpaid dividends with serious concern. Is high time SEC should wake to regulate the flow of the unclaimed dividend in the listed companies, SEC aforementioned proposals as part of its consensus building policy to solicit the views of all concerned in the securities market before the Commission commits itself to making definite rules which will be binding on all market operators and should mandate companys listed to pay dividend within 30 days from the date of declaration to every shareholder who is entitled to the payment of the dividend. Section 205A of the Act requires a company which has an unpaid or unclaimed dividend lying with it to be transferred to a separate bank account within seven days after the expiry of the said period of thirty days. It should be noted that such an account has to be opened only in a scheduled bank. RECOMMENDATION SEC, NSE and the CBN should regulate the flow of unclaimed dividend, unclaimed dividend within 12 years that are unclaimed, however SEC should be empowered to investigate and trace the next of kin of owners of unclaimed dividend. The company with claimed dividend is to be made obliged to refer to SEC or the agency for investigation once the unclaimed dividend is outstanding for six years, "Unclaimed Dividend" should be identified immediately following the name of the broker or dealer and the total dividends claimed by the investors in the year, dividend received by the broker or dealer, the name of the dividend-paying corporation

. A more appropriate course of action will be to focus on the following. Unnecessary delayed in dividend warrants issued to the shareholders should

stop The postal system should be improve, efficiency and operational orphan, whose parents have invested in his or her name or in their names,

should reclaim the benefit of such investments when they becomes of age
A computerised application form of beneficiary should show extensive information such

as telephone number and Next-of-kin.

An intensify drive towards e-dividend and e-bonus should be highly embraced

Securities and Exchange Commission should show surveillance over formulating

principles and protecting the investors. Dividend warrant should be lodge into the saving account, limitless of the dormant

account dividend payment into bank ac

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Kelechi Mgboji (Published: Mon, 13th sep 2010) Resolving The 20B Unclaimed Dividends Challenge-source: Daily sun www.nigeria70.com, retrieved on 2011-315

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