The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has directed all publicly quoted companies and their registrars to honour all valid claims on unclaimed dividends and to stop treating dividends older than 12 years as “statute-barred”—especially those declared before the enactment of the Finance Act 2020.
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The directive reaffirms the provisions of Section 60 of the Finance Act, which mandates that dividends unclaimed for over six years be transferred to the Unclaimed Funds Trust Fund (UFTF), where they remain accessible to shareholders pending claims.
In a circular released yesterday, the SEC stated that shareholders are entitled to continue claiming dividends that were not statute-barred (i.e., not older than 12 years) before December 31, 2020—the date the Finance Act 2020 came into effect.
The circular reads:
“The attention of the Securities and Exchange Commission has been drawn to the fact that paying companies and their registrars have continued to treat unclaimed dividends of public companies older than 12 years as ‘statute-barred’, without due regard to the provisions of the Finance Act 2020.”
The Commission clarified that, under Section 60 of the Finance Act 2020, dividends declared by a public company listed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited that remain unclaimed for six years or more are to be transferred to the UFTF. These funds are to be held in trust and managed until the rightful shareholder presents a claim.
The SEC further stated:
“Pending the establishment and operationalisation 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 honouring all shareholder requests for payment of unclaimed dividends, as described above, effective from December 31, 2020.”
The Commission also directed all affected entities to comply immediately and to submit periodic reports in accordance with its Rules and Regulations.
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