Effect of E-Dividend Payment System and Management of Rising Trend of Unclaimed Dividends in Nigeria

Abstract

This paper examines the effect of e-dividend payment system and the management of unclaimed dividends in Nigeria. The object of this paper is to examine the effect of the introduction of e-dividend payments system to stem the tide of rising trend of unclaimed dividends in Nigeria. The paper examines the significance of the e-dividend policy between the pre and the post edividend payment periods. The study used the pre period of 2010 to 2014 and post period of 2015 to 2019 to determine the significant differences. The study used stochastic dominance to investigate the significant difference between the two periods. The paired sampled t-test was also employed as an additional statistical techniques for analysing the data collected to determine the significant difference. The study revealed that the introduction of e-payment of dividends in reducing the trend of increasing unclaimed dividends in Nigeria was not effective. The stochastic dominance between the two pre and post edividend payment system showed that the e-dividend payment system introduced has no impact on the rising unclaimed dividends in Nigeria. The study recommends that efforts should be made to focus on the relationship between the quoted companies and the registrars in the processing of payment of dividends in Nigeria.