SEC verifies 580 complaints, to pay investors soon

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday said it would soon begin payments of verified 580 complaints of unclaimed dividend to investors.
The Head of Marketing Development of SEC, Henry Rowlands, told the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja that the investors would be paid from the N5 billion National Investor Protection Fund set aside by the commission.
Rowlands said: “In November 2015, SEC launched a fund called National Investor Protection Fund and at the time of its launching, SEC put an initial seed of N5 billion.
“What the fund is intended for is that any investor within the market that has any form of losses will be compensated once SEC verifies that the complaint is genuine.
“Once complaint is lodged, SEC verifies the complaint to ensure it is genuine and effects the payment of an amount to the investor concerned.”
According to Rowlands, the NIPF covers all categories of investors that transact business with market operators who are not dealing members of the Nigeria Stock Exchange.
He, however, explained that all losses to an investor by an operator who was a dealing member of the NSE would be refunded through the NSE investors’ protection fund.
He said: “So the SEC created this enlarged NIPF to compliment all those investors that are not dealing with members of the NSE.
“I can assure that it is functional because as at today, the SEC has verified about 580 complaints and are in the process of paying those investors.”
Rowlands explained that in cases where there were unclaimed dividends, they might form part of the NIPF after much consideration.
NAN.