Shareholders of Defunct Afribank Plc Yet To Claim Dividends
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says shareholders of the defunct Afribank Plc are yet to claim their dividends being held in trust for them years after the financial institution was acquired by the defunct Skye Bank.
The Commission which has instituted an investor protection programme to ensure that shareholders get the benefits of investing in the capital market, said it is making concrete efforts to ensure that investors get their dividends to reduce the high profile of unclaimed dividends in the market.
Mainstreet Bank, one of the bridge banks formed in August 2011 took over the assets and some of the liabilities of the defunct Afribank Plc., whose commercial banking license was revoked.
Mainstreet was later in 2014 acquired by the Defunct Skye Bank having acquired the 100 per cent ownership stake of Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) in the bank.
The Acting Director-General SEC Mary Uduk said: “We have informed shareholders of the defunct AfriBank Plc that unclaimed dividends declared by the bank are being held in trust on their behalf. This will further help reduce the volume of unclaimed dividends in the market and boost investor confidence.
“Investors that have unclaimed dividends are therefore advised to contact Carnation Registrars to process their dividend payments,” she said.
Uduk said the commission has also directed Carnation Registrars and Meristem Trustees to ensure that all genuine claims of beneficiary shareholders be addressed forthwith.
“Since the company is no longer in operation, these unclaimed dividends have to be made available to the rightful owners that are the shareholders. That will go a long way in boosting investor confidence in the market. That is why we are calling on them to take advantage of this opportunity and claim their dividends,” uduk said.
It would be recalled that the commission recently directed investors in the defunct Skye bank plc to claim all outstanding dividends declared by the bank which were being held in trust on their behalf.
The SEC also went further to direct Cardinalstone Registrars and STL Trustees to ensure that all genuine claims of beneficiary shareholders were addressed forthwith.This the SEC said was part of its investors’ protection programme to ensure that shareholders got the benefits of investing in the capital market.
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