Selling shares via capita. certificated?

puk999

I have some uncertificated shares in Standard Life plc. Capita are the registrar. I've logged into their share portal and clicked "Sell". I've taken a screenshot of the web page but cannot include it in the post so I've copied and pasted the paragraph I'm confused about:

2. Next select how you wish to sell your shares. Sell now means we will sell your shares at the latest market price. For more information on limit orders, click the 'help icon' next to the type of sale. Important Note: You must have your certificated shares in your possession to complete the sale. If you don't, please log-off now.

The options next to this paragraph are:

• Sell Now
• At Limit

I'm confused about the stipulation about having certificated shares in my possession. Aren't they obviously electronic and therefore uncertificated? Can anyone help explain why this would be there? Does it apply only to when selling At Limit, and if so, why? Their FAQ on limit orders mentioned nothing about certificated.

(I could call them but I suspect I might learn more asking here).

CLAPTON

who holds your 'electronic' shares?

puk999

These shares were from the Standard Life demutualisation. This is pretty much the first time I've logged in to see the share account, so I assume Capita are. Well, they're the registrars I think. Is that the same thing?

EDIT: Perhaps you're talking about CREST? I have logged into the account but can't seem to find this information.

puk999

I got a reply from Capita:

Please note you can simply proceed past the point where it says “You must have your certificated shares in your possession to complete the sale. If you don't, please log-off now." You should then be able to set a limit order, as you are still able to do this even though the shares are held electronically.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

if you 'sell now' you get price now,

if you 'limit' you can say don't sell below £12.20 or whatever.

I think it will cost more to sell certificated shares.

Ifts

puk999 wrote: »

(I could call them but I suspect I might learn more asking here).

If I was you I would give them a call to find out for sure how you hold these shares, give them your account/holders number (if you have been receiving the SL divi, the divi slip should have your account number on it).

If you hold them electronically then I don't think its that costly to go through the registrar but (as already mentioned) if you have them in certificated form then it can be costly via the registrar.

If you do hold them in certificated form then it will probably be cheaper to sell them through someone like X-O.co.uk (there are other brokers that provide similar service), explained in this thread:

Selling paper shares?


Sorry I was unsure if you held these shares via a share certificate or not as in the title of your thread it says 'Selling shares via capita. certificated?' and then in the first line of the opening post it goes on to say 'I have some uncertificated shares in Standard Life plc'.

puk999

Ifts wrote: »

Sorry I was unsure if you held these shares via a share certificate or not as in the title of your thread it says 'Selling shares via capita. certificated?' and then in the first line of the opening post it goes on to say 'I have some uncertificated shares in Standard Life plc'.

The "certificated?" in the subject line was purely to flag that my question was somehow related to certificated vs. non-certificated. I knew mine were uncertificated/electronic. I see how it was confusing now and apologise.

Just had another reply from Capita to tell me the notice was only to remind shareholders with a certificate that they must be in possession of said certificate before selling. With this knowledge, their original paragraph I was confused about makes sense now. My girlfriend reckons I've got mild autism or something as I always seem to find ambiguity/confusion in statements where others get the original intent off the bat.

Ifts

Nout wrong with double checking if you have any doubts.

What are Capita's charges for selling these shares that you hold electronically?

Do you hold any other shares in a nominee share holding account or are you thinking of opening a share dealing account? I ask because if you do/are then it may be cheaper to sell them through your existing share dealing account (if you have one that is) or someone like X-O.

puk999

I considered creating a limit order but bit the bullet and sold the shares this afternoon. I was charged 0.5% over the internet. They said it would cost 1% if I instructed them on the phone.

This was the only direct shareholding I had and wanted to get the money out of this single holding and into my ISAs where I can spread it across funds. I might get involved in shares in a year or two...

puk999

Ifts wrote: »

Do you hold any other shares in a nominee share holding account or are you thinking of opening a share dealing account? I ask because if you do/are then it may be cheaper to sell them through your existing share dealing account (if you have one that is) or someone like X-O.

As you see from my previous message, I have already sold the shares. Not knowing much about share dealing and how the parties interoperate, I had assumed that I had to go through Capita to sell them. I was given a shareholder reference number which I assume is Capita specific and when logging on they knew about my shareholding. I would be interested to learn how I could've sold them via X-O. Capita are the share registrar AFAIK, but I don't really know what that means/implies.

Ifts

puk999 wrote: »

This was the only direct shareholding I had and wanted to get the money out of this single holding and into my ISAs where I can spread it across funds. I might get involved in shares in a year or two...

Wise move. For a newbie investor its best to start with funds to spread the risk, then after you have gained experience and have sufficient £s you can get into individual shares.

I wish I had used my full S&S ISA allowance many years ago and put some of my holdings in there to avoid CGT.

When I started investing I went straight into buying shares direct and didn't buy any funds, even now I only hold shares and no funds (crazy I know!), but thats the way I like it.