…To Engage MTN For The Project
The Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said it will begin enforcement of electronically transmitted annual reports to shareholders.
SEC explained that the idea is to ensure they receive such reports few weeks before the annual general meeting of listed companies.
The Director General of SEC, Mounir Gwarzo who gave the indication at the agency’s second quarterly Capital Market Committee (CMC), meeting press briefing in Lagos, observed that 98 percent of shareholders don’t get their annual report on time except for institutional investors.
According to him, The annual report will not be completely done electronically but company Secretary will deposit some of the hard copies with the shareholders associations for those who are unable to access the electronic annual report.
He further noted that the pilot stage will takeoff this year and with time it will be reviewed, while adding that the aim is to ensure that all investors get the report on time and study it throughly and ask relevant questions and contribution to the meeting.
According to him the initiative is that is cost effective for the companies and better returns and dividend for shareholders.
On e- dividend mandate he said as at the end of July 2017 only 432,000 unique individuals that has BVN out of the 2.1million that have mandated their accounts.
He also aded that deadline for e dividend mandate have been extended to the 31st of December 2017.
He added that the industry is going beyond mandating of e-dividend alone to the issue of direct cash settlement which is compulsory for all investors, this according to him will enable investors get the proceeds of its shares sold by stockbrokers directly into his accounts.
” Is mandatory for every investor to key in into the direct cash settlement initiative. We haveHe said that the committee has streamline the process and now we have one form that will be completed by the investors.
He explained that to make the system easier for investors the capital market committee have merged the direct cash settlement and the e-dividend together in one single form which is now called Electronic Capital Registration System Form (ECRF).
On multiple account holders he said “investors with multiple accounts have up till December 2017 to come with relevant KYC to harmonies their accounts with their registrars. Once an investor can justify that he is the same person that owns the various accounts they will be able to claims their investment before the end of 2017. While people that have investment in different names that doesn’t reflect their true will have to forfeit it because there is no KYC that justify that you are the owner of the share. The proceeds of such investment will go to the capital market development fund.”
Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, has opened discussions with MTN to ensure successful electronic listing of the telecoms company on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
The Director-General of SEC, Mounir Gwarzo, made the disclosure at the Second Post-Capital Market Committee news conference in Lagos.
According to Mr. Gwarzo, the parties have been on the matter since the past two months.
He said that the NSE had provided needed ideas to MTN on ways to go about the issue in the interest of retail investors.
“MTN Nigeria is back and we are on course as regards its listing on NSE,” Mr. Gwarzo said.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the telecommunications firm in June said it would list its shares on the NSE this year.
Mr. Gwarzo said the application processes would be digitalised in a way that there would be minimal utilisation of paper, adding that the Nigerian Communications Commission and the NSE, among others, were in support of the plan.
The General Manager of MTN, Nikiwe Tsaagane, made the announcement when he visited the Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu.