Mislaid Shares

Aveleydave

Could somebody with some insight into share holding please advise where I should go next.
In a nutshell, I was given shares in National Express when the rail franchise I worked for at the time was taken over. This was back in the year 2000. After a few half-hearted attempts, I recently knuckled down and tried to find out why I was receiving mail in someone else's name and had not received any dividends for some considerable time. I made enquiries with Equiniti but they've done some digging and come back with nothing. Where should I try next?

Thanks,

Dave.

eskbanker

To the best of my knowledge there are only two ways of proving that you own the shares - either you have the certificate or the registrar agrees that you're on the register of shareholders.

Having said that, https://www.nationalexpressgroup.com/investors/shareholder-centre/ includes

Unclaimed Assets Register

The Company participates in the Unclaimed Assets Register (“UAR”) programme which provides a search facility for shareholdings and other financial assets that may have been forgotten. For further information, contact:
Telephone: 0333 000 0182

Email: uarenquiries@uk.experian.com
Website: https://www.uar.co.uk.

The fact that you're no longer receiving dividends isn't a good sign though, when did they stop? Do you know the person whose name is on the correspondence? Could the shares have been sold/transferred at some point during those 18 years?

xylophone

why I was receiving mail in someone else's name and had not received any dividends for some considerable time

When did you last receive a dividend? Was it by warrant or direct to your bank account?

If by warrant, did you keep the counterfoil (perhaps with your tax records)?

If by bank transfer do you have any old statements?


What does the mail in question have to do with the shares?

Aveleydave

Sorry for the overly long absence and thanks for the replies. I do have a counterfoil of a dividend payment and, no, I didn't know the person to whom the mail was addressed. I was however told that the person may have worked for the company as a driver. The majority of mail was in reference to shareholder meetings, proxy votes and such like. I think that the shares may have been transferred to Equiniti from another holding company at some point, my hunch is it may have been at this time things went a bit Pete Tong.

xylophone

https://www.nationalexpressgroup.com/investors/shareholder-centre/historic-dividend-information/

Which registrar is shown on the counterfoil?