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.
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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.