How to convert Irish Paper Share Certificate Post Brexit?

geelaw

Hi all,

I have a paper certificate for a small amount of shares in an Irish company. I'm aware that post Brexit the CREST system for settlement of securities has been moved over to Euroclear.

Being a complete newbie to this area, can anyone recommend a suitable broker that can convert the paper certificate to digital so that I can go about selling a portion of the shares?

Thanks

maxsteam

You should decide which you want to do first, sell some of the shares or move them to a "digital" nominee account. Once you have decided this, you should find that many brokers will help. Trying to do both jobs at the same time is likely to complicate things. If you are in UK, you should use a UK broker. If you are in the Irish Republic, you should use an Irish broker. Most brokers' websites will clearly state their charges for selling or converting paper certificates.

hanfield

I am in the same position as Geelaw in that I have a share certificate issued by Computershare in 2016 for shares in an Irish company.
But I have been unsuccessful in finding a UK broker who can deal in these shares or convert them to a digital platform. A J Bell, Hargreaves Lansdown and Computershare are amongst those who have apologised for being unable to help.Is there a registry of UK brokers who are authorised to deal in Euroclear?

Thrugelmir

LSE brokers can be found here.

https://www.londonstockexchange.com/personal-investing/member-firm-broker-directory

hanfield

I have contacted a lot of those brokers, particularly those more local to me, and the type of reply I receive is:
"Dear Client,Thank you for your email. We are unable to deposit these as a share certificate and we would not be able to help you further."
Brexit seems to have made my shares (incidentally which should be worth more than £6,000) unsaleable. I do not relly understand why!

wmb194

hanfield said:

I have contacted a lot of those brokers, particularly those more local to me, and the type of reply I receive is:
"Dear Client,Thank you for your email. We are unable to deposit these as a share certificate and we would not be able to help you further."
Brexit seems to have made my shares (incidentally which should be worth more than £6,000) unsaleable. I do not relly understand why!

Have you tried approaching an Irish stockbroker? Obviously domicile might be an issue but no doubt some will offer a one-time 'sell your share certificate' type thing. Which company is it?

Thrugelmir

hanfield said:

Brexit seems to have made my shares (incidentally which should be worth more than £6,000) unsaleable. I do not relly understand why!

The cut-off for trades was the 30th March 2021 using Crest.  Personally I haven't held any paper share certificates for over 10 years now. Simply too laborious and expensive a process when it comes to trading. 

hanfield

I dont trade very often. I fact, I've held these shares since 2001. I wasn't aware of any deadline and yet I consider myself fairly well read. Another Brexit setback for the consumer.

hanfield

Have you tried approaching an Irish stockbroker? Obviously domicile might be an issue but no doubt some will offer a one-time 'sell your share certificate' type thing. Which company is it?

It is Glanbia plc. I think my next move will be to approach an Irish broker or to transfer the shares to an Irish friend.

StevenGude

hanfield said:

I have contacted a lot of those brokers, particularly those more local to me, and the type of reply I receive is:
"Dear Client,Thank you for your email. We are unable to deposit these as a share certificate and we would not be able to help you further."
Brexit seems to have made my shares (incidentally which should be worth more than £6,000) unsaleable. I do not relly understand why!

Did you manage to resolve this and find a way to sell? 

hanfield

Not yet! I am investigating another way. So I haven't give up yet!