Managing dividends

This allows multiple dividends to be consolidated into a single payment. Benefits of the service are that an electronic file is delivered by email before a dividend payment date, allowing quicker payment to underlying beneficiaries and payments can be reconciled electronically.

A specific dividend mandate is applied to each CREST participant account held on the share register. The total cash dividend payable to the CREST participant in respect of these uncertificated shareholdings is calculated and a single payment made to the mandated account on the payment date. A single tax voucher is issued per dividend payment with an itemised breakdown of the payment and tax credits.

Help your shareholders to reduce the risk of lost cheques and fraud whilst reducing costs to you by cutting down on printing and postage. By mandating dividends, shareholders can receive their dividend payments directly in to their nominated bank account. They can do this easily by logging in to the Share Portal, calling our shareholder helpline or filling in a bank mandate form.

Scrip dividend schemes are attractive to many shareholders as they offer them the option of increasing their shareholding in the company easily and without incurring any dealing costs or Stamp Duty Reserve Tax (SDRT). You also benefit as cash that would otherwise be paid as a dividend is retained within your business.

Once a shareholder signs up to the scrip dividend alternative, they receive additional shares instead of a cash dividend payment. Shares are created as newly issued shares by way of a corporate action.

CTVs combine all distribution information onto one annual document, reducing costs and supporting the timely delivery of tax vouchers.

Legislation allows tax vouchers to be sent electronically through CREST (for uncertificated holders) or loaded as a PDF to a website, such as your company Share Portal.

Each year we calculate, distribute and reconcile a vast amount of dividend and interest payments on behalf of our clients. We successfully do this through robust, reliable, flexible systems and innovations that drive down costs and maintain accuracy.

Distributions are project managed from start to finish, by our dedicated dividend team, and payments are made electronically (via Bacs) or by cheque, as well as through the CREST system. We actively encourage shareholders to mandate their payments directly to their bank accounts for speed and security.

While shareholders benefit through faster payments and increased security, you benefit through cost savings created when combined with our Consolidated Tax Voucher (CTV) and Electronic Tax Voucher (ETV) services.

In order to choose a currency alternative, certificated shareholders can submit an election form via post or online, and will receive their currency payments in the form of a currency draft. If uncertificated holders have chosen to receive their dividends in CREST then a CREST supported currency will be paid in the same way.

Uncertificated holders have the ability to make a currency election for all future dividend payments electronically.

Currency alternative elections are permanent until the shareholder chooses to revoke their election or the alternative is withdrawn by the issuer.

DRIPs allow shareholders to opt for additional shares purchased in the market from their dividend payment income. It's a convenient and easy way for shareholders to invest in your company over the long term.

Shareholders only have to pay dealing commission (1% of the purchase price of the shares, with a minimum of £2.50) and Stamp Duty Reserve Tax (SDRT) (charged at the prevailing rate of the deal value currently 0.5%). These costs are automatically deducted from the cash to be reinvested.

A branded DRIP is available so that all shareholder literature is developed to reflect your own brand name. This has the potential to increase take up to the service as the source of the literature is recognisable to the shareholder.

As a DRIP involves purchasing shares on the market, it can only be operated by an FSA (Financial Services Authority) authorised firm, such as our partner company, Capita IRG Trustees Limited.