Registrars of shares keep an up-to-date record of all stocks bought, which includes
names of individual shareholders, their shareholdings, their addresses, and
signatures amongst other salient information. These addresses and signatures of clients can be changed upon request of holders after verifcations are done. It is necessary to maintain a correct address at all times because notices of annual general meetings and other relevant correspondence are communicated through this medium. They are also responsible for paying dividend to qualifed shareholders when it falls due. Indemnity for loss certifcates and for lost dividend warrants forms are given upon request of holders when documents are lost or destroyed and after completion, new ones are issued. mong their numerous functions, they transfer shares on behalf of a deceased holder. If you should invest in shares, you would be entitled to dividends which are declared by board of directors at an annual general meeting. !apital gains, bonus share issues and right issues are among the several benefts of investing in shares. !apital gains are increase in the value of a capital asset "investment or shares# that gives it a higher worth than the purchase price. The gain is not reali$ed until the asset is sold. bonus share is a free share of stock given to current shareholders in a company, based upon the number of shares that the shareholder already owns. lthough the total number of issued shares increases, the ratio of number of shares held by each shareholder remains constant. rights issue is a way in which a company can sell new shares in order to raise capital. %hares are o&ered to e'isting shareholders in proportion to their current shareholding, respecting their pre-emption rights. Responsibilities of the Registrar to %hareholders (eep register of shareholders %ee to the arrangement of annual general meetings and posting of annual reports to all shareholders %ee to the issuance of certifcates to new shareholders and e'isting shareholders who have misplaced their certifcates %ee to the payment of dividends to qualifed shareholders )orks on share transfers" both mutual and deceased# The responsibility of the registrar to the broker Receive lodgments from brokers through which they e&ect transfers of share unto the central depository when document presented are verifed and *ustifed. +rint statement of broker,s holdings periodically. lso print statement of holdings to clients upon request The registry is also of assistance to %tudents and other stakeholders may need annual reports of listed companies for research purposes. -ocuments you should always take along when going to the registry .alid identifcation card "-river,s /icense, passport, 0ational 1ealth Insurance %cheme !ard and .oters, Identifcation !ard. Receipt on shares bought %hare certifcates )here a deceased transfer is requested, a probate or /etter of dministration is required, depending on the circumstance in which the holder dies. )here an dministrator or an 2'ecutor cannot come personally to help with the transfer. It is deemed necessary to apply for a power of attorney from the court to facilitate the transfer. -ocuments you should take to your registrar as a broker broker should ensure that all the lodgments to the registry contain valid documents and duly certifed since these documents are transferred to the 3%-. !orrect number of shares must be quoted on the 3%- form 2nsure that a photocopy of a valid photo I- of the shareholder is attached to the 3%- form and is duly certifed 4ecause there are several registrars dealing with di&erent equities, brokers must always ensure that the right equity is presented to the registrar involved in the transaction. 555555555555555555555555555555555555555555 5555555555555555555. The Registrar fnali$es the list of eligible allottees after deleting the invalid applications and ensures that the corporate action for crediting of shares to the demat accounts of the applicants is done and the dispatch of refund orders to those applicable are sent. The /ead 6anager coordinates with the Registrar to ensure follow up so that that the 7ow of applications from collecting bank branches, processing of the applications and other matters till the basis of allotment is fnali$ed, dispatch security certifcates and refund orders completed and securities listed. STATUTORY ROLE OF REGISTRARS The !ompanies and llied 6atters ct 899: as amended does not make e'press mention of Registrars but section ;<"b# of !6 899: as amended provides that =the company arranges with some other person for making up of the register to be undertaken on behalf of the company by that person, it may be kept at the ofce of that other person at which work is done>. It is instructive to note that the other person is the Registrar. 1owever, section ??"8# of I% 899 only refers to a person to whom this part of this Decree applies shall keep a register in the prescribed form of the securities in which he has an interest. The duties of a registrar was enumerated in the case of UBN Plc (Registrars Dept) v. SEC "@::<# 8 I%/R 8 as followsA 8# In matters relating to stock market securities trading, the Registrar deals with stock broking frms acting on behalf of investorsBshareholdersC @# .erifyBauthenticate investors claims "i.e. certifcates and transfer forms# as presented through the stock broking frmsC ?# %endBverify certifcates and signed transfer form "s# with two "@# copies of certifcate deposit form"s# to the !%!% within <; hoursC <# Receive recycled demateriali$ed share certifcates from the !%!% and alert the !%!% of any abnormality promptlyC D# Receive transaction updates from !%!% and apply it by a&ecting the necessary debits and credits in their books, raise claims where necessary. Eor instance, share certifcates earlier verifed by them. Eurthermore, the Registrars over all duty is to ensure the achievement of the basic goals relative to the issue for which it has been appointed namelyC participate actively in all logistics and all parties and completion board meeting relating to the o&er, receivesBprocesses application forms from the public and returns from receiving agents nationwide, summari$es applications received and prepares allotment data that will enable issuing house prepare llotment proposal, prepare comprehensive application list, Return surplus and re*ected application moneys to subscribers, after the approval of Return of llotment by %2!, the registrar produces an allotment register re7ecting shareholding position of shareholders, prepare certifcate of register re7ecting details of certifcates emanating from the o&er and management of the register of members and ensure continuous transferability of the companies securities, particularly in the case of publicly quoted companies. The above functions are in addition to the traditional role of maintaining the register and attendance at members meetings. )hen an investor puts his money into either the primary or secondary market he e'pects that his money must be safe. )hen he buys an instrument he relies on the information or facts as to the fnancial state of the company institution or government and prediction of future 7ow of income in reaching the decision. Therefore, he e'pects that the stockbroker and the Registrar must have performed their roles diligently and e'pects no market abuses and bad corporate governance. 1owever the methods of market abuse keep changing even as advances are achieved in technology. The regulators must therefore have laws, rules and regulations that are 7e'ible enough to cope with such abuse as internet, computer, and information technology through proactive rules based market supervision, monitoring and enforcement. It is imperative to note that assuming the non e'istence of !ode of !onduct for capital market operators and their employees, it would have been diFcult to penali$ed the Registrar -epartment of G40 +lc in the 4okolans case. Therefore, the !ode should be incorporated into the Investments and %ecurities ct 8999 in order to give it statutory 7avour.