Suspended/inactive/expelled stockbroking firm: NSE notifies investors on processes for transfer of shares

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has informed the investing public of the established processes involved in the transfer of their securities from suspended/inactive/expelled stockbroking firms to active stockbroking firms.

In a bid to ensure a seamless transfer of securities (including shares, exchange traded funds (ETFs) and fixed income securities) by investors, the transfer process is managed exclusively by the Central Securities Clearing System plc (CSCS) and includes the following steps:

​​Investors and shareholders that are desirous of transferring their securities from a suspended/inactive/expelled stockbroking firm are required to appoint an active/target stockbroking firm to deal on their behalf.​

The active/target stockbroking firm (that is, the firm that an investor desires to move to) shall conduct a Know Your Customer (KYC) due diligence process to verify the identity of the investor before establishing a relationship with the investor.​​​

​Thereafter, the active/target stockbroking firm shall provide CSCS with a number of requirements including the following: A copy of the investor’s KYC documents verified by the active/target stockbroking firm; the investor’s bank account details (not bank statement), which has been operated for not less than six months; evidence of share ownership such as contract notes, purchase receipts and dividen​​d warrant stubs. Identification documents could be a National Identity Card, current driver’s licence or current international passport.​​

Furthermore, the active/target stockbroking firm shall provide CSCS with a letter confirming that it has conducted a satisfactory KYC due diligence process in addition to the physical KYC documents submitted to CSCS.

Two authorised signatories of the active/target firm including the managing director and another authorised signatory are required to visit CSCS with the firm’s official stamp and the personal Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS) seal of the managing director to sign, seal and stamp the CSCS indemnity form.​

​Finally, the investor is required to visit CSCS with proof of identification for a bio-data capture as further proof of ownership. Where the investor is unable to visit CSCS for the bio-data capture as a result of distance, age, ill-health, etc., the proof of identification should be dul​y confirmed by a notary public before submission to CSCS.