The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Sunday announced the extension of the forbearance for multiple accounts to the end of this year.
The commission’s Acting Director-General, Securities and Exchange Commission, Ms Mary Uduk, stated that the decision to extend the timeline was taken by the Capital Market Committee during its just concluded meeting in Lagos.
She pointed out that the measure was to encourage many investors to consolidate their multiple subscriptions into one account, urging investors in the capital market that bought shares with different names to regularise their accounts in order to get the benefits of their investments.
The SEC boss stated: “During the banking and insurance sector consolidation between 2004 and 2007, there were a lot of issues in the primary market because the banks or insurance companies came to the market to raise funds.
“During that period, because a lot of people were coming to the capital market for the first time, they saw the capital market as a place where they could make a lot of money, so a lot of them bought shares in different names.
“Today, those shares are not in the system; because if you are unable to identify yourself properly, those shares cannot be properly captured in the system. We are saying come and regularise that situation and get back your shares, which are being warehoused somewhere.
“There is absolutely no punishment attached to it; SEC is not punishing anybody. We just want such individuals to come and regularise that transaction between now and December 31, 2018.
“The objective is that it will increase liquidity in the market because the shares are just there; no trading on them. Not only that, the investors cannot claim their dividends too and that increases unclaimed dividend”, Uduk added.
The investment expert disclosed that the committee also decided that apart from the physical delivery of annual reports and accounts, current pilot exercise of electronic distribution by public companies should be sustained as efforts are being made to enlighten shareholders on the need to provide their e-mail addresses for correspondence purposes.
On the completion of the work by the committee on Minimum Operating Standard (MOS), Uduk hinted on t plans by the committee to work with trade group associations to implement the committee’s recommendations on the standard.
She appealed to trade group associations that were yet to register with the commission to do so immediately, adding that capital market operators are expected to register with their respective trade group associations on or before the end of the year.
This is even as she stated that mechanisms were being put in place to constitute a market-wide financial technology committee to develop a Fintech framework for the Nigerian capital market.
