Massy: Foreign shareholders get US$ dividends

MASSY Holdings said it will continue to pay 276 foreign-resident shareholders in foreign currency for now, a circular to shareholders said on September 13.

This comes despite there being concerns about the payment of dividends in United States' currency to some shareholders.

However, Massy said only one per cent of all dividends are paid in US to foreign resident shareholders. It said it was in the best interest of all shareholders to limit any risks of legal action for unpaid dividends.

Massy said it will continue with the existing payment arrangements for these shareholders, pay resident shareholders in Barbados and Jamaica in their currencies.

Future foreign-resident shareholders will be paid in TT currency.

“The board reserves the right to revise this policy statement at any time,” it said. “(It) also takes this opportunity to remind our shareholders that about 70 per cent of the company’s revenue is now earned outside of TT.”

The communiqué said when access to foreign exchange became a problem in TT, the Central Depository Ltd, the company’s paying agent was unable to source funds to pay foreign-based shareholders who made their investments in US currency. As a result, shareholders went unpaid.

“This di­fficulty was not unique to Massy and various other publicly listed companies in TT faced the same challenge,” the communiqué said.

At that point, Massy took the decision to source the foreign exchange for those shareholders. In 2017, the company explained the delays in sourcing the funds, and promised to pay the shareholders in US.