What Is a Shareholders' Register? The Register of Members, the Registrar and Your CSCS Record

A shareholders' register, called the register of members under Nigerian company law, is the official list a company keeps of every person who owns its shares, how many they hold and when they became a member. Being entered on it is what makes you a shareholder in law: dividends, bonus shares, rights entitlements and meeting notices all go to the people on the register at the relevant date. For listed companies the register is maintained by a SEC-registered registrar on the company's behalf, and it is kept in step with the electronic holdings recorded at CSCS.

What the Register Contains

The Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020 requires every company to keep a register of members. For each member it records their name and address, the number and class of shares held, the amount paid on them, the date they were entered as a member and, when they sell out, the date they ceased to be one. Companies with many members also keep an index so that a name can be found quickly. The Act says where the register is to be kept and gives members the right to inspect it, and a company that fails to keep it properly commits an offence.

In practice the register of a listed company is an electronic database holding hundreds of thousands of names, and for each name it also carries the details needed to pay that shareholder: a bank mandate for dividends, an email or postal address for notices and, where the holding has been dematerialised, the Clearing House Number (CHN) and CSCS account it is linked to.

Who Keeps It

A company can keep its own register, but public companies almost always appoint a registrar, a firm registered with the SEC to maintain share registers and process entitlements. The registrar is the company's agent, not yours: it acts on the company's instructions and under the Act and SEC rules. It updates the register when shares change hands, pays dividends, issues bonus and scrip shares, sends AGM notices and handles queries from shareholders about their holdings. A company names its registrar in its annual report, and a registrar can be replaced, so the firm that held your record years ago may not be the one holding it now.

How the Register Relates to Your CSCS Record

CSCS is the central depository for the Nigerian market. When shares are dematerialised, they are held electronically in a CSCS account under your CHN, and it is CSCS that moves them from seller to buyer when an NGX trade settles. The register of members and the CSCS record are two records of the same ownership, kept for two purposes.

• The register is the company's legal record of membership. It decides who is entitled to dividends and to vote.
• The CSCS record is the market's record of holdings. It decides what can be traded and is what your broker sees.
• For dematerialised shares the two are reconciled: CSCS reports settled trades to the registrar, and the registrar updates the register. A lag between a trade settling and the register being updated is normal and short.
• A holding that exists only on the register, typically an old certificated holding, is not visible at CSCS and cannot be sold until it is dematerialised.
• A holding at CSCS but not on the register, or registered under a slightly different name, is a mismatch that the registrar and your broker have to resolve.

How to Check You Are on the Register

1. Identify the registrar. It is named in the company's annual report and on the company's investor relations page. Registrars also publish the list of companies they serve.
2. Use the registrar's online portal. Most Nigerian registrars let a shareholder look up a holding using a registrar account number, a CHN or personal details, and show the registered name, address, holding and dividend history.
3. Write to the registrar if you cannot use the portal. Give your full name as it may appear on the register, any old addresses, your CHN if you have one and a copy of identification. Ask for confirmation of your holding and of the bank mandate on file.
4. Compare with your CSCS statement. The units shown for that company at CSCS and the holding on the register are expected to match once any recent trades have been registered.
5. Correct what is wrong. Name changes, old addresses, missing bank mandates and holdings split across several accounts are all fixed through the registrar with supporting documents.

When the Register Is Closed

Before paying a dividend or issuing bonus shares, a company announces a closure of register: a short period during which the registrar stops registering transfers and takes a snapshot of who holds what. The entitlement goes to the names on the register at the qualification date. Because NGX trades settle on T+1 since 1 June 2026, a purchase has to settle, and reach the register, by that date for the buyer to qualify. Closure dates are published on the NGX website and by the registrar.

Common Register Problems

• Several accounts for one person: shares bought at different times through different brokers were registered under name variants, so one shareholder appears as two or three members. The registrar can merge them on proof of identity.
• Deceased holder: the shares remain registered in the deceased's name until the estate obtains letters of administration or probate and the registrar transmits them to the beneficiary.
• No bank mandate: dividends are declared but cannot be paid, and accumulate as unclaimed dividends until an e-dividend mandate is lodged.
• Certificated holdings: an old share certificate is evidence of an entry on the register, but the shares cannot be traded until the registrar and a broker dematerialise them into CSCS.

Shareholders' Registers in Nigeria: FAQs

Is my name on the register if I bought through an app?

It depends on how the app holds shares. If the shares are registered directly in your name at CSCS, you appear on the register as a member. If the app uses a nominee, the nominee is the member and you have a claim against the nominee. Ask the platform which applies.

Can anyone look at the register?

The Act gives members the right to inspect the register, and others may inspect it on payment of a fee, subject to the conditions in the Act. In practice, a shareholder's own record is checked through the registrar rather than by reading the whole register.

What is a registrar account number?

It is the reference the registrar assigns to your entry on a company's register. It is different from your CHN, which is issued by CSCS and covers all your holdings. A separate article on this site explains the difference.