Shareholders of listed companies on PNGX urged to update their shareholder details.

The Bank of PNG (BPNG) has recently announced that it will discontinue private sector cheques by 31 December 2023.

This is important news for all shareholders of listed companies who still receive dividend payments by cheque. The change will cause major banks regulated by BPNG to cease issuing or accepting private cheques. This will prevent listed companies from issuing cheque payment of dividends to shareholders by the end of the year.

Shareholders who receive dividend payments by cheque need to take action to make sure that they continue to receive dividend payments. Shareholders are urged to contact the share registry of the company they have invested in and provide details of a nominated bank account.

Shareholders who do not have a bank account are encouraged to contact the share registry to discuss this with them.

Shareholders who currently receive dividend payments directly into their bank account do not need to do anything.

Receiving dividends is one of the benefits of being a shareholder.  Dividends can be a valuable source of income. As such it is important for shareholders to keep their shareholder details up to date.

While dividends paid by cheque may have been a common practice in the past, there are several disadvantages with the payment method which include delays in receiving the payment, dividend cheques being lost or stolen due to change of mailing address or through fraudulent use, inconvenience to shareholders to deposit the cheque at the counter, cost for reissuing of cheques or bank fees for depositing the cheque.

These are some of the reasons why shareholders who are entitled to receive dividends do not receive them and for some shareholders not receiving their dividend payments for many years.

Among the benefits of the Bank of PNG decision are that shareholders relying on cheques will now receive their dividend payments quicker, with less cost and reduced risk of fraud.

The company’s share registry, which maintains shareholder details, is responsible for the dividend payments made to shareholders.

Most of the listed companies now only use direct bank credit for payment of shareholder dividends. Cheques are no longer issued to their shareholders. Dividends for shareholders without bank details are withheld until the shareholder provides details to the company’s share registry.

All shareholders are encouraged to contact the share registry of each company they have invested in to ensure that their shareholder information is properly recorded including bank account and mailing address.

The share registry may require you to provide identification with your request.

The table below shows the share registry for each PNGX listed company and their current preferred method to pay dividends.  Next year all payments will be by direct bank credit only.

The contact details for the share registries are

Ensuring that you update your address on the share register also ensures you receive other communications from the company, such as annual reports and any notice of general meeting of shareholders.

Failure to provide or update bank details will mean dividend payments will not be received in a timely way.

Shareholders are encouraged to act early and not leave updating their details until the end of the year.

PNGX recommends discussing your investment objectives and needs with a stockbroker or qualified financial adviser. In PNG, you can either contact JMP Securities Limited (enquiries@jmpmarkets.com) or Kina Securities Limited (wealth@kinabank.com.pg).

The information in this article is general in nature and you should take care to inform yourself about the specific characteristics of a particular investment before making a decision to invest in it.

By following these articles and reading the information available on the PNGX website (www.pngx.com.pg) or following PNGX on LinkedIn or Facebook you can learn more and build your wealth by investing in PNG.