Need Help On Selling Canadian shares

redddevil

I am a lifelong UK resident & a shareholder in Great-West Lifeco having acquired my shares when they took over the UK life assurance business of Canada Life (whose shares I had post-demutualisation). The shares are in certificated form and are listed on the Toronto stock exchange (TSX).

I wish to sell my shares but I can find no way to do so in the UK as no UK broker seems to handle certificated TSX shares (I have contacted LOTS and none seems to do it even if they are in DRS format). I have tried to get help from Computershare (the official transfer agent) to see if any Canadian broker would deal with a UK resident but they seem unable to help. I could try and get in touch with a random Canadian bank to see if they can help me but I suspect the technical difficulty of this might be difficult to surmount at a distance. 
This seems a ludicrous situation in the modern world and I can't be the only UK person in this state so I wondered if anyone had any useful suggestions?
TFYH

DRS1

Have you tried eg Hargreaves Lansdown?  You would probably have to send them the certificate so they can turn it into a holding in your online general investment account but it looks as if they can deal in the shares. I do not know if they will deal online or if it would have to be over the phone.
I also don't know if you would have to sign a special form if you just want to sell the shares as opposed to keeping them and getting dividends.
I assume once you are done you could close the account and take the money
Other online brokers are available

Hoenir

At the time of the takeover there were two options for Canada Life shareholders. Either cash or Great-West Lifeco shares. As always is the case in such circumstances. The onus is firmly on the individual shareholder to chose the most suitable option for their circumstances. As you've now found out, ownership of stock on a foreign exchange is fraught with challenges if you are a non resident. 

Have you tried either Redmayne Bentley or IG ? Both have international offices.

Brie

Have you tried talking to TD Bank (aka Toronto Dominion)?

They have an investment branch in London (UK so there's no confusion with the one in Ontario)

Online Banking, Loans, Credit Cards & Home Lending | TD Bank

Tricky thing will be if they can only cash out the shares to one of their own branches which are all in Canada and which you would need to go to to set up an account.  But since they are dealing with investments in the UK I would have thought they could send any profits to a UK account of your choice.

wmb194

redddevil said:

I am a lifelong UK resident & a shareholder in Great-West Lifeco having acquired my shares when they took over the UK life assurance business of Canada Life (whose shares I had post-demutualisation). The shares are in certificated form and are listed on the Toronto stock exchange (TSX).

I wish to sell my shares but I can find no way to do so in the UK as no UK broker seems to handle certificated TSX shares (I have contacted LOTS and none seems to do it even if they are in DRS format). I have tried to get help from Computershare (the official transfer agent) to see if any Canadian broker would deal with a UK resident but they seem unable to help. I could try and get in touch with a random Canadian bank to see if they can help me but I suspect the technical difficulty of this might be difficult to surmount at a distance. 
This seems a ludicrous situation in the modern world and I can't be the only UK person in this state so I wondered if anyone had any useful suggestions?
TFYH

Computershare in Canada cannot sell them for you?

https://www.computershare.com/ca/en/individuals/i-am-a-shareholder/help-for-shareholders-and-their-representatives

redddevil

DRS1 said:

Have you tried eg Hargreaves Lansdown?  You would probably have to send them the certificate so they can turn it into a holding in your online general investment account but it looks as if they can deal in the shares. I do not know if they will deal online or if it would have to be over the phone.
I also don't know if you would have to sign a special form if you just want to sell the shares as opposed to keeping them and getting dividends.
I assume once you are done you could close the account and take the money
Other online brokers are available

Yes tried HL and most other UK brokers I could think of and also Charles Schwab who deal in US but not on TSX

.Hoenir said:

At the time of the takeover there were two options for Canada Life shareholders. Either cash or Great-West Lifeco shares. As always is the case in such circumstances. The onus is firmly on the individual shareholder to chose the most suitable option for their circumstances. As you've now found out, ownership of stock on a foreign exchange is fraught with challenges if you are a non resident. 

Have you tried either Redmayne Bentley or IG ? Both have international offices.

Tried IG but not Redmayne Bentley so will give them a go. Thanks

Brie said:

Have you tried talking to TD Bank (aka Toronto Dominion)?

They have an investment branch in London (UK so there's no confusion with the one in Ontario)

Online Banking, Loans, Credit Cards & Home Lending | TD Bank

Tricky thing will be if they can only cash out the shares to one of their own branches which are all in Canada and which you would need to go to to set up an account.  But since they are dealing with investments in the UK I would have thought they could send any profits to a UK account of your choice.

Going to a Canadian bank is my next step but that seems to require a 'Medallion Signature Guarantee' and not sure how easy it'll be to deal at a distance.

wmb194 said:

redddevil said:

I am a lifelong UK resident & a shareholder in Great-West Lifeco having acquired my shares when they took over the UK life assurance business of Canada Life (whose shares I had post-demutualisation). The shares are in certificated form and are listed on the Toronto stock exchange (TSX).

I wish to sell my shares but I can find no way to do so in the UK as no UK broker seems to handle certificated TSX shares (I have contacted LOTS and none seems to do it even if they are in DRS format). I have tried to get help from Computershare (the official transfer agent) to see if any Canadian broker would deal with a UK resident but they seem unable to help. I could try and get in touch with a random Canadian bank to see if they can help me but I suspect the technical difficulty of this might be difficult to surmount at a distance. 
This seems a ludicrous situation in the modern world and I can't be the only UK person in this state so I wondered if anyone had any useful suggestions?
TFYH

Computershare in Canada cannot sell them for you?

https://www.computershare.com/ca/en/individuals/i-am-a-shareholder/help-for-shareholders-and-their-representatives

No Computershare in Canada most definitely can't nor will they tell me of any broker who can (prohibited from 'recommending' one apparently)

BuyCurious

Did you see Interactive Investor's page on TSX trading? https www.ii.co.uk investing-with-ii/international-investing/markets/canada

[Mangled link as I'm a newbie]

redddevil

BuyCurious said:

Did you see Interactive Investor's page on TSX trading? https www.ii.co.uk investing-with-ii/international-investing/markets/canada

[Mangled link as I'm a newbie]

They're happy to take your cash to invest it but they can't sell the certificated shares.
I've also tried Interactive Brokers, Charles Schwab, Hargreaves Lansdowne, AJ Bell, IG, Saxo and eToro......

MX5huggy

Speak to XO/ Jarvis. Worth a try. https://www.x-o.co.uk/

redddevil

MX5huggy said:

Speak to XO/ Jarvis. Worth a try. https://www.x-o.co.uk/

Thanks for the suggestion but my UK investments are with them so they were my 1st port of call but they only deal with LSE

BuyCurious

I expect your research will have covered things like this that my brief effort to help has stumbled on, but in case not...

I found the notes on here about making DRS transfers interesting:https://webfiles.thecse.com/Emergia_Inc._Statement_-_Amended.pdf?wKcT_FA50iNF_R11f1q8kA6K2bk5IRsS=

Which leads to this list of CDR participants that might be able to help: https://www.cds.ca/participants/participant-services/participant-list

I didn't check them all but most seem to be Canadian.  However there a few US bodies that might be more used to multi-national transactions.