THE IMPACT OF OWNERSHIP STRUCTURE ON THE DIVIDEND PAYOUT POLICY OF SELECTED QUOTED BANKS IN NIGERIA

This study examines the relationship between ownership structure and dividend payout policy of selected listed banks in Nigeria. The objective of the study is to examine effect of managerial ownership and ownership concentration on dividend payout policy for the period of six (7) years from 2007 to 2013(post-corporate governance code for banks in Nigeria). Data were obtained from the annual reports of the sampled banks and analyzed using Ordinary Least Square regression (OLS). The regression results shows that there is no significant relationship between managerial ownership, ownership concentration and dividend payout policy post corporate governance code for banks in Nigeria. The study recommends that directors should increase their shareholding in order to reduce the use of dividend as a monitoring tool and lower agency problem; large shareholders should not be allowed to increase their shareholding as they will their control right to encourage increased dividend payment at the expense of the growth, further investments and rights of the minority shareholders in the banks. use