Yuguda: SEC to Resolve Issues of Unclaimed Dividend with Identity Management

Kayode Tokede 

The Director-General, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr. Lamido Yuguda has stated that the identity management system being developed by stakeholders would tackle problem of unclaimed dividend in the capital market.

He disclosed further that the initiative is expected to create room for scalability as technology evolves. 

Yuguda, when he received members of the Committee on identity management for the Capital Market in Abuja at the weekend, described identity theft as a fraudulent practice of using another person’s name and personal information to obtain shares, credit and loans, among others.

He said the Commission decided to engage relevant stakeholders in a bid to resolve issues of identity management to tackle the problem of unclaimed dividends.

According to him, the problem of unclaimed dividends had to do with identity management, hence the Commission is currently engaging stakeholders to harmonize various databases of investors and facilitate data accuracy in the market as well as increasing investors’ education to stem the trend.

The SEC DG who expressed satisfaction with the work of the Committee so far, added that stakeholder engagements would commence in earnest to ensure success of the project. 

While thanking the members of the Committee for lending their support and resources to the Project, the SEC DG also expressed confidence in the success of the Project that it would build a greater Nigeria and impact unborn generations.

In his remarks, the Chairman of the Committee, Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede commended the Commission on the recent release of Rules on Issuance, Offering Platforms and Custody of Digital Assets saying that it was a step in the right direction. 

Aig-Imoukhuede said the Committee’s work had exposed the need for standardization of systems within the Nigerian Capital Market that would support Open Finance which the SEC can drive, adding that the SEC could leverage on the Committee to develop the framework for the Nigerian capital market. 

According to him, “The Committee had clearly defined the task ahead in a Road Map and also identified that the Project would be carried out in stages supported by a consultant with recourse to the SEC on a regular basis. The Committee is committed to ensuring that the customer journey for investors is such that would cause a revolution in the Nigerian capital market, thereby making our market attractive to the tech savvy and younger generation”.