By Chinwendu Obienyi
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has warned quoted companies and capital market registrars to desist from selective payments and distribution of dividends.
Its Director-General, Mr Lamido Yuguda, stated this at the 10th annual conference of the Institute of Capital Market Registrar’s (ICMR) with the theme ‘Reinventing the Nigerian Capital Market for Growth: The Digital Technology Approach, held in Lagos Saturday.
Yuguda, who said that some registrars are unwilling to release the unclaimed dividends in their custody and have employed several antics to frustrate shareholders from enjoying the benefits of the E-DMMS platform, urged the ICMR to encourage its members to uphold the Code of Ethics of the profession as contained in the Rules and regulations of the Commission.
He said: “Capital market operators have a duty to uphold the integrity of the capital market to foster investor confidence as investors are the greatest assets any capital market has. The Commission would, therefore, not hesitate to sanction any erring operator in relation to unclaimed dividend or any other issue”.
The SEC DG also stressed the need for an optimal regulations of digital technology in the capital market to forestall likely disruptions that could threaten investors’ confidence.
According to him, as much as digital technology is expedient for the growth of the capital market, disruptions could threaten investors’ confidence in the market if digital technology is left unregulated.