Johannesburg, 10 September 2024: This campaign seeks to empower individuals financially, enabling them to claim their rightful benefits.

In 2022, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority’s (FSCA) research revealed that there’s nearly R88.56 billion in unclaimed assets across the financial sector, with a significant portion tied to unclaimed retirement benefits. In South Africa, these unclaimed funds disproportionately impact underserved communities where poor record keeping has led to untraceable ownership.

“Various factors contribute to the unclaimed dividends challenge, ranging from old banking records, deceased shareholders, people changing addresses and not being able to receive correspondence, or moving jobs without enquiring about dividends from employee share schemes,” said Vuyo Lee, Director of Marketing and Corporate Affairs at the JSE. “Through this educational campaign, we aim to shine a light on this issue and educate individuals about what shares are, the available dividends from participating listed companies and how people can verify if they are owed money.”

In addition, the lack of proper identification numbers leads to incomplete records, making it difficult to verify members and beneficiaries, therefore, delaying the distribution of unclaimed benefits. The JSE seeks to resolve this through innovative technology, building a bespoke JSE tracing tool for the purposes of data enrichment preliminary verification and most importantly shareholder segmentation and insights.

“We will collaborate with Baker Street Analytics, which is a cutting-edge data analytics company with a successful track record in tracing lost shareholders. By harnessing the power of advanced data analytics and multiple strategic partnerships, we will make every effort to alleviate the burden of unclaimed dividends in the South African market,” Lee explained.

Ten companies with unclaimed shareholder bases have joined  the unclaimed dividends initiative.They are urging former employees, shareholders or beneficiaries of estates that hold shares from these companies to engage with this educational campaign and take the necessary steps to claim their rightful dividends.

"Claiming dividends owed to you is more than just accessing funds; it's about unlocking your financial potential,” emphasised Lee. “Returning R4.5 billion worth of unclaimed dividends back to South African investors can make a profound economic impact on the everyday lives of people."

For more information about the educational campaign on unclaimed dividends and how you can participate, visit the JSE website and follow the exchange’s social media accounts on Facebook, X and LinkedIn where educational content will be posted regularly leading up to the launch.

ENDS

Note to editor – Participating Issuers as at 6 September include:

ABOUT THE JSE

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) has a well-established history of operating as a marketplace for trading financial products. It is a pioneering, globally connected exchange group that enables inclusive economic growth through trusted, world-class, socially responsible products, and services for the investor of the future. It offers secure and efficient primary and secondary capital markets across a diverse range of securities, spanning equities, derivatives, and debt markets. It prides itself on being the market of choice for local and international investors looking to gain exposure to leading capital markets on the African continent.

The JSE is currently ranked in the Top 20 largest stock exchanges in the world by market capitalisation, and is the largest stock exchange in Africa, having been in operation for 137 years. As a leading global exchange, the JSE co-creates, unlocks value and makes real connections happen. www.jse.co.za 

The JSE takes your privacy seriously in accordance with the POPI Act. We endeavour to only send you relevant information that we think will be of interest to you and the media title you work at. No action is required if you are happy to continue receiving JSE news and information. Should you change your mind at any time in the future, please do let us know. If you do not wish to receive JSE news and information, please respond to this email and we will remove you from future distributions.