SGX seeks owners of $68 million in unclaimed

Read? SGX seeks owners of $68 million in unclaimed

SGX looking for 89,000 investors with S$68.3m of unclaimed dividends and SingTel shares

By

cai haoxiang haoxiang@sph.com.sg

        

 

 

WOW!

 

SOMEWHERE out there in Singapore, there is an investor who has a S$1.2 million windfall. The investor is one of 89,000 people owning S$68.3 million of unclaimed dividends and SingTel shares who could not be contacted despite the best efforts of the Singapore Exchange (SGX).

Tomorrow, a website at www.sgx.com/mygateway will be launched for investors to check if they have unclaimed assets, using their NRIC number.

Unclaimed dividends come about when investors do not opt for them to be directly credited to their bank accounts. The dividend checks were mailed out but investors did not cash them for various reasons.

Unclaimed SingTel shares and dividends were from the telco's 1993 initial public offering, where investors had signed up for but did not follow through by opening a Central Depository (CDP) account. Most investors have unclaimed dividends or shares of less than S$1,000, SGX said.

“This initiative highlights the benefits Singaporeans enjoy when they invest in shares over the long term. We hope to locate the rightful owners of these assets through this exercise while making Singaporeans more aware of the role share investing can play in their financial planning for their retirement and other needs,” said Chew Sutat (周士达), Executive Vice President at SGX.“

 

Many listed companies pay sizeable dividends. In the past 12 months, the 30 companies making  up the Straits Times Index paid $15.5 billion in dividends, equivalent to a 3% yield. We encourage investors to take advantage of SGX’s direct crediting service which automatically deposits their dividends into their bank accounts” said Lynn Gaspa (葛惠玲),Head of Retail Investors at SGX.

“It is always encouraging to hear real-life examples of investors who invested in shares for the long term and enjoyed healthy returns. There are two lessons here for all of us; first, share investing is a crucial part of financial planning and second, investors should monitor their company’s corporate actions and developments,” said David Gerald (大卫。杰乐), President and CEO of the Securities Investors Association (Singapore)