Simple share selling question

ortolickus

Hi - i'm totally ignorant about shares, but i have some in eurotunnel, which i inherited 20 years ago. A grand total of about £50 worth. They are 'held' - if that's the right word - by computershare who want £20 to sell them for me. Is there a cheaper way, or can i only sell through them? Thanks.

refluxer

There have been a few mergers since you inherited those shares (see link/info below) - are the shares now actually Getlink (formerly Groupe Eurotunnel) ?

And do you have the shares as an actual paper certificate or are they held electronically with Computershare ?

If it's the latter, then there are online brokers who charge less to sell shares, but you'd need to find one who deals in foreign stocks and before doing that, you'd need to look into whether Computershare charge any fees for transferring. This may depend on the scheme or plan you're on.

If, however, you hold paper shares and Computershare are simply the registrar, then you should be able to post off your certificates to a suitable broker directly. You'd just need to set up an online account first and then post off the share certificate(s), along with the necessary forms (eg. Crest transfer form) and paperwork that the broker requires. .


From : https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/jessica-investigates/have-eurotunnel-shares-gone/

"Originally shares in Eurotunnel were made up of one in the British company Eurotunnel plc and one in the French company Eurotunnel Groupe SA.

In 2007 a new parent company, Groupe Eurotunnel, rescued what was an ailing business and later Eurotunnel plc and Eurotunnel SA became TNU plc and TNU SA. The French arm was quickly absorbed by the new company. For a time TNU plc was kept dormant for shareholders with travel privileges.

Then Groupe Eurotunnel made an offer for TNU plc and shareholders had the option of receiving one new share in Groupe Eurotunnel for every 394 shares held in TNU plc. Under the terms of this deal shareholdings were sold automatically if they were smaller than 394 shares or if Computershare, the registrar at the time, did not receive a valid election from the shareholder by Oct 20 2010."

wmb194

Gilt Yields

ortolickus said:

Hi - i'm totally ignorant about shares, but i have some in eurotunnel, which i inherited 20 years ago. A grand total of about £50 worth. They are 'held' - if that's the right word - by computershare who want £20 to sell them for me. Is there a cheaper way, or can i only sell through them? Thanks.

Do you though? Didn't Eurotunnel become or was bought by/merged with Getlink, listed in Paris? 

You don't have to sell them via Computershare, you can transfer them to another broker. The problem is that it's a foreign, non-US company so your options will be limited. 

You could try Trading212, zero commission but a 0.15% FX fee, but you might not be able to do it until June as it hasn't fully rolled out in-specie share transfers to all its customers. It says it will accept in-specie transfers of all the shares it offers and that includes Getlink.

Another option might be Interactive Brokers which looks like it has a minimum fee for French shares of €1.25 per trade plus a small percentage fee.

refluxer

That's a good point about french shares - cheap brokers like X-O don't deal in foreign shares that are listed on overseas markets. I'll edit my post above to avoid confusion.

ortolickus

Thanks for the replies, they are indeed Getlink shares. I've tried to investigate how much it would cost to transfer to another broker, but i can't get an answer that i understand from their chatbot. For example if i ask "fee for transferring to another broker" i get "Is it true that you would like help with transferring shares into your broker nominee name?"

I have no idea whether the answer to this is yes or no. Neither option presents any information that helps.

Did I say "simple" question?

Beddie

ortolickus said:

Thanks for the replies, they are indeed Getlink shares. I've tried to investigate how much it would cost to transfer to another broker, but i can't get an answer that i understand from their chatbot. For example if i ask "fee for transferring to another broker" i get "Is it true that you would like help with transferring shares into your broker nominee name?"

I have no idea whether the answer to this is yes or no. Neither option presents any information that helps.

Did I say "simple" question?

According to Google - £15.

wmb194

ortolickus said:

Thanks for the replies, they are indeed Getlink shares. I've tried to investigate how much it would cost to transfer to another broker, but i can't get an answer that i understand from their chatbot. For example if i ask "fee for transferring to another broker" i get "Is it true that you would like help with transferring shares into your broker nominee name?"

I have no idea whether the answer to this is yes or no. Neither option presents any information that helps.

Did I say "simple" question?

In-specie transfers are usually free.

refluxer

Computershare don't actually appear to be brokers themselves in that they use the services of other brokers, which is why I wondering if they might be acting as registrars.

I guess you've got to weigh up the hassle of trying to look into this vs taking the easy option. Back in the day (before cheap, online brokers), I paid a lot more than £20 to sell a bunch of shares ! 

wmb194

Beddie said:

ortolickus said:

Thanks for the replies, they are indeed Getlink shares. I've tried to investigate how much it would cost to transfer to another broker, but i can't get an answer that i understand from their chatbot. For example if i ask "fee for transferring to another broker" i get "Is it true that you would like help with transferring shares into your broker nominee name?"

I have no idea whether the answer to this is yes or no. Neither option presents any information that helps.

Did I say "simple" question?

According to Google - £15.

Is that for the Corporate Sponsored Nominee account? If so, that might not apply here. It's really hard to find Computershare's charges; the OP needs to ask.

https://www-uk.computershare.com/Content/download.asp?docId=%7Bbfb3af0e-1b7b-41ed-8cec-f915024eecba%7D

MX5huggy

Maybe consider giving the shares away to a charity, if the costs in time and money outweigh the value. 

jimjames

I've looked into this too as I also hold some GET Link shares. Came to the conclusion that it wasn't worth moving them as I use the travel privileges and wasn't going to sell but as they're not UK listed and held as CDIs in France.