The Central Bank of Nigeria has ordered banks and financial institutions to transfer unclaimed dividends and dormant account balances into an account controlled by the CBN.
The apex bank said it would determine what government securities to invest the funds subject to the approval of Unclaimed Balances Management Committee.
The bank gave the directive in the ‘Guidelines on Management of Dormant Account and Unclaimed Fund’ published on Friday.
The directive takes effect from the date of issue, said the CBN.
“The CBN shall open and maintain an account earmarked for the purpose of warehousing unclaimed balances in eligible accounts. The account shall be called “Unclaimed Balances Trust Fund (UBTF) Pool Account,” the apex bank said in the document obtained by NewsNGR.
According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the value unclaimed dividends was N190bn as of August 2023.
The debate began when the Finance Act 2020 was signed into law by former president Muhammadu Buhari.
The federal government said that any unclaimed dividends of a public limited liability company quoted on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) and any unutilised amounts in a dormant bank account maintained in or by a deposit money bank, which has remained unclaimed or unutilised for a period of not less than six years from the date of declaring the dividend or domiciling the funds in a bank account, shall be transferred immediately to Unclaimed Funds Trust Fund.
But a Federal High Court sitting in Abeokuta blocked the federal government from taking unclaimed dividends.
This is coming few days after President Bola Tinubu requested for the approval of additional N6.2tn which raised the 2024 budget from N28tn to N34tn.
To fund the budget, the federal government is planning to tax foreign exchange gains of banks.
For the unclaimed dividend and dormant account balances, the CBN said banks should maintain records of the beneficiaries of the unclaimed balances warehoused in the UBTF Pool Account.
Also, dormant accounts and financial assets in addition to the unclaimed dividend would be invested in fg securities.
CBN said it will, “Invest the funds in Nigerian treasury bills (NTBs) and other securities as may be approved by the ‘Unclaimed Balances Management Committee’.
“Refund the principal and interest (if any) on the invested funds to the beneficiaries not later than ten (10) working days from the date of receipt of the request.
“Where it is imperative to extend the timeline, a notice of extension shall be communicated to the requesting FI stating reasons for the extension.”