Selling "paper" share certificates

GWEPM

Thanks p00hsticks. But I am still confused. The shares show in an account with the Registrars (Link, in this case). I have the certificates but their online site doesn't have an option for transferring these to electronic format - (is that CREST?) .

HL, where I have some other investments won't either sell or transfer to electronic as they are not handling paper certifcates because of Covid. I have another batch with a different Registrar (Computershare) I am trying to tidy up a mess of small investments.

Am I obliged to sell via the Registrars (or their in-house brokers)

p00hsticks

GWEPM said:

Thanks p00hsticks. But I am still confused. The shares show in an account with the Registrars (Link, in this case). I have the certificates but their online site doesn't have an option for transferring these to electronic format - (is that CREST?) .

HL, where I have some other investments won't either sell or transfer to electronic as they are not handling paper certifcates because of Covid. I have another batch with a different Registrar (Computershare) I am trying to tidy up a mess of small investments.

Am I obliged to sell via the Registrars (or their in-house brokers)

No you don't have to sell via the registrar. I've not done it myself but my understanding of the process is this.

If you want to use X-O, for example, you open an account with them, download and print the CREST transfer form from their website (as per the link in my last post), fill it in as per their instructions and post it with the share certificate to X-O. (I'd recommend using signed-for post as it's tracked and replacing share certs that go astray is expensive).  X-O process the transfer and the shares then appear in your X-O account and you can then sell them.

What I'm not clear about is what (if anything) X-O charge for doing the transfer.

As an aside I think it's very poor of HL to still be using COVID as an excuse for not providing this service for their customers.

GWEPM

p00hsticks said:

What I'm not clear about is what (if anything) X-O charge for doing the transfer.

As an aside I think it's a very poor excuse for HL to still be using COVID as an excuse for not providing this service for their customers.

Thanks, that's clearer. I think I was confusing Registrars role with that of Brokers

Transfer out costs seem to be levied by the Registrars in some cases, but I checked and there is no fee in this instance.

I agree about HL comment - I suspect it is because many will still be working from home and they cannot have paper certificates going to home addresses and getting lost!

I have now opened an X-O account and downloaded the transfer forms. Thanks!

pafpcg

p00hsticks said:

GWEPM said:

Thanks p00hsticks. But I am still confused. The shares show in an account with the Registrars (Link, in this case). I have the certificates but their online site doesn't have an option for transferring these to electronic format - (is that CREST?) .

HL, where I have some other investments won't either sell or transfer to electronic as they are not handling paper certifcates because of Covid. I have another batch with a different Registrar (Computershare) I am trying to tidy up a mess of small investments.

Am I obliged to sell via the Registrars (or their in-house brokers)

No you don't have to sell via the registrar. I've not done it myself but my understanding of the process is this.

If you want to use X-O, for example, you open an account with them, download and print the CREST transfer form from their website (as per the link in my last post), fill it in as per their instructions and post it with the share certificate to X-O. (I'd recommend using signed-for post as it's tracked and replacing share certs that go astray is expensive).  X-O process the transfer and the shares then appear in your X-O account and you can then sell them.

What I'm not clear about is what (if anything) X-O charge for doing the transfer.

As an aside I think it's very poor of HL to still be using COVID as an excuse for not providing this service for their customers.

No, they don't charge for taking the paper certificates and transferring to their nominee account ready for you to sell.

The only cost will be the postage (I also recommend the Royal Mail 'Signed-for' service for little over £1-£2) and then the selling fee of £5.95.  You can then withdraw the proceeds to your bank account, again at no charge.  The whole process shouldn't take more than a couple of weeks.

Rollinghome

GWEPM said:

Transfer out costs seem to be levied by the Registrars in some cases, but I checked and there is no fee in this instance.

The only circumstances where there should be any charge by the Registrars is where the shares are held using their nominee  account.   If you have share certificates in your name then they aren't being held within any nominee service.  The registrar just keeps the record of your shareholding on behalf the company.

Share certificates aren't normally issued now, so if you buy through a broker your shares will routinely be held in your broker's CREST nominee account with you listed as the owner. The name of the nominee company (e.g. HL Nominees) will then appear as the owners in the registrars records as the holder, not you. 

It is still possible to obtain a share certificate and to have your own CREST account, but share certificates for listed companies won't be issued after January 2023.

Sometimes, in situations such as take-overs and the like, there won't be a broker involved and then your newly issued shares might automatically be put in the registrar's nominee account.  You can have them transferred to your broker's nominee account or the registrar can act as you broker.and sell them for you for an ad valorem fee.  Invariably that is extremely expensive.

So the normal way to sell, is what you are doing: have the broker put your shares in their nominee account and have them sell them for you.  I've never heard of a broker charging for that; it should be just part of the normal service.

maxsteam

GWEPM said:

am I bound to sell via the Registrars?

Absolutely not. Some registrars work with the company to provide special dealing terms, otherwise it's best to use a broker. x-o (Jarvis) have been mentioned. An alternative is YouInvest (AJBell). There are hundreds of other brokers listed on the London Stock Exchange's website if you don't fancy either of these. There will be a broker with an office near you if that's important for you. You should be able to transfer the certificate onto the broker's platform for free, then trade at their published dealing costs.

You need to post the share certificate with the CREST form and hope that it doesn't get lost in the mail. If you think the registrar's dealing fees are high, I don't know what you'll think of their fees for replacing a lost certificate .