How to Find Which Registrar Holds Your Shares in Nigeria
Every Nigerian company appoints its own registrar, and both companies and registrars change names over time. Here is how to trace the right registrar from a certificate, a dividend warrant, an annual report or the NGX.
The registrar that holds your shares is the one currently appointed by the company you invested in, and the quickest ways to identify it are the company's latest annual report, its page on the NGX website, or any dividend warrant or letter you have received. The name printed on an old certificate may be out of date, because companies change registrars and registrars themselves are renamed or merged. What you need is the registrar that keeps the register today.
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One Company, One Registrar, but Not for Ever
Shareholders do not choose a registrar. Each company appoints one firm to keep its register of members, pay its dividends and handle changes to shareholder records. A person with shares in several companies therefore deals with several registrars, and no registrar can see holdings in companies it does not serve.
Appointments change. A company can move its register to a different registrar, and when it does the full register, including paper holdings and unclaimed dividend records, moves with it. Your shares are not affected, but the office you need to contact is.
Clues on Documents You May Already Have
- Share certificate: shows the company name at the time of issue, your name as registered, a certificate number and often a shareholder or account number. Some certificates name the registrar; many name only the company.
- Dividend warrant or e-dividend advice: usually issued by the registrar, so its name and address appear on the document, together with your account number on that register.
- Allotment letter or return-money notice from a public offer: names the registrar to the offer, which was normally the company's registrar at that time.
- Annual report or AGM notice: the corporate information page lists the registrar, and the proxy form is usually returnable to the registrar's address.
- Rights circulars and bonus notifications: sent by the registrar on the company's behalf.
Treat any document more than a few years old as a lead, not an answer. It tells you who the registrar was on that date.
How to Confirm the Current Registrar
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- Find the company on the NGX website. A listed company's page and its recent filings, including the annual report, identify the registrar.
- Open the latest annual report from the company's own investor relations page and look at the corporate information section.
- Look at the most recent dividend announcement. Dividend notices normally tell shareholders which registrar to contact about mandates and unclaimed payments.
- Ask your stockbroker. Brokers deal with registrars routinely and can usually confirm the appointment quickly.
- Contact the company secretary's office of the company if none of the above settles it.
- Check the registrar's own website, where many registrars publish a list of their client companies. That is the appropriate place to confirm the pairing, because appointments change.
When the Registrar Itself Was Renamed or Merged
Registrars are companies too, and several in Nigeria have been renamed, sold or combined over the years, often when the banking group that owned them was restructured. A warrant from the 1990s or 2000s may carry a registrar name that no longer trades. The registers it kept did not vanish: they passed to a successor firm or to whichever registrar each client company later appointed.
The practical approach is to ignore the old registrar name and work from the company instead. Identify the company as it exists now, then confirm its present registrar using the steps above. The Securities and Exchange Commission registers capital market operators, including registrars, and can help where a registrar appears to have ceased business.
When the Company Was Renamed, Merged or Delisted
Old certificates frequently carry company names that no longer exist. Banks were combined during the consolidation era, oil marketers and manufacturers have been rebranded after changes of ownership, and some well-known names have left the NGX altogether. Each case is handled slightly differently:
- Renamed company: the register continues under the new name. The holding is the same; only the name and sometimes the ticker changed. The current company's registrar holds your record.
- Merged or acquired company: shareholders of the old company normally received shares in the successor, cash, or a mix, under the terms of the scheme. The successor's registrar can confirm what your old holding became and whether anything is still unclaimed.
- Delisted company: leaving the NGX does not end the register. The company still has a registrar, which can confirm whether you remain a shareholder or whether your shares were acquired under a scheme and consideration is waiting to be claimed.
- Company in liquidation or no longer operating: the liquidator or the Corporate Affairs Commission records show who is responsible for the company's affairs.
An unfamiliar company name on a certificate is not evidence that the shares are worthless, and it is not evidence that they have value either. It only means the trail has to be followed from the old name to whatever the company became.
What to Send Once You Have Found the Registrar
Write to the registrar with the shareholder's full name as it appears on the document, any former names and addresses, the certificate or account number, a copy of the document and a valid photo ID. Ask three things: what is registered in that name, whether any dividends or other entitlements are unclaimed, and what the registrar needs to bring the record up to date. If you hold a CHN, quote it as well.
If the documents are incomplete, or you suspect there are holdings with registrars you have never dealt with, a Find My Shares search works across brokers, registrars and the CSCS to identify what is registered in your name.
Start a Find My Shares SearchFrequently Asked Questions
Is there one list showing every company and its registrar?
There is no single list that is certain to be current, because appointments change. The reliable sources are each company's latest annual report and NGX filings, and each registrar's own published client list. Third-party lists found online are often out of date.
Can CSCS tell me who my registrar is?
CSCS records the shares you hold in electronic form under your CHN, and a CSCS statement lists the companies. It does not act as your registrar and does not hold paper certificates. Use the statement to see which companies you hold, then confirm each company's registrar.
Do all my shares sit with the same registrar?
Only if every company you own happens to use the same one. Most people with more than a few holdings deal with two or more registrars, and each keeps a separate record with its own account number.
The registrar on my certificate no longer exists. Are the shares lost?
The register belongs to the company, not to the registrar, so it continues under whichever registrar the company now uses. Identify the company as it is today and confirm its current registrar; that firm will hold the record.
Can I find a registrar for shares held in a late parent's name?
You can identify the registrar in exactly the same way, and a registrar will usually confirm in general terms what it needs from an estate. It will not release details or act on the holding until it sees a grant of probate or letters of administration.
What if I do not know which companies the shares were in?
Then the registrar cannot be the starting point, because each registrar can only search the registers it keeps. Start from the person instead: old bank statements showing dividend credits, broker statements, a CSCS statement if there is a CHN, or a structured search across brokers and registrars.
Important disclaimer. This article is for general information and educational purposes only. It does not constitute financial advice, investment advice, or any recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. The value of investments can fall as well as rise. You should seek independent regulated financial advice before making any investment decision. Shares Saver does not provide financial advice.
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