Dividend Declaration of dividend Unpaid Dividend Account

You own ten shares of a listed company bought years ago and forgotten. One day a notification says that a dividend was declared, but you never changed your bank details and the amount is sitting somewhere. Where is it, who holds it, and can you still claim it after ten years? Chapter VIII of the Companies Act 2013 tells a company when it may pay its shareholders a share of profit, what it must do with the money once declared, and what happens if the shareholder never comes forward.

In two minutes

A company may declare dividend only out of profits (after depreciation) or government-provided money, must deposit the amount in a separate bank account within five days, must move unpaid sums to an Unpaid Dividend Account after thirty days, and after seven years the money, and the shares, go to the Investor Education and Protection Fund.

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