Selling NYSE Registered Paper Shares

Cpt_Kenrow

Hi,

I have seen this question answered on here before but not for a few years. Given the chances that things have changed I thought I'd ask again. That and the website mentioned in the previous answer looks decidedly ropey!

For one reason or another I have a small, but not insignificant, amount of NYSE listed paper shares. I'd like to sell them but neither of my online dealers will touch them.

I'm not in a massive hurry to sell them and would like to keep costs down within reason.

So, does anybody have any recent experience / recommendations for this?

Thanks in advance,
Chris

Atreyu107

Who's the registrar? Might be worth contacting them as they should be able to point you in the direction of a broker.

The reason UK brokers won't touch US certs is because they have to complete something called a 'Medallion Guarantee' to transfer ownership (whether this is between individuals, or between an investor and a nominee for the purpose of electronic/CREST lodgement). These are prohibitively costly for low costs exos, and can take months to sort out.

Cpt_Kenrow

Atreyu107 wrote: »

Who's the registrar? Might be worth contacting them as they should be able to point you in the direction of a broker.

Just spoke to the registrar, Computershare, and all they suggested was I find a UK based stockbroker who will deal with this. Have already tried Hargreaves Lansdown and they won't, am waiting for Selftrade to get back to me.

Any suggestions on a broker who might do this as a one of trade. Or failing that (or if prohibitively expensive) an online dealing account that can manage it.

Thanks

Cpt_Kenrow

OK, this looks promising...

https://the-international-investor.com/sell-foreign-stocks

Cpt_Kenrow

Spoke to Redmayne Bentley yesterday. They can do it but it will take 6-8 weeks and cost over £150

Any suggestions on a quicker cheaper way of doing this?

Atreyu107

Unfortunately not.

When it comes to online brokers, the problem is not the sale of the stock, it's the transfer of the stock from your name to their nominee name, and electronically lodging it on CREST. If the shares are only traded on a US exchange, then by US law they have to obtain a Medallion Guarantee for the transfer of ownership.

By contrast, in the UK a guarantee is not required, so electronically transferring stock usually takes a few days.

6 - 8 weeks and £150 doesn't sound like a bad outcome in my experience.