Paper share certificate

barbie9411

Hi how do I convert my paper share certificate into electronic or simply sell the shares?

heroic

Not an expert on the matter but you’ve got two main options:

1. Sell through the registrar – The company’s registrar (e.g. Equiniti, Link Group, Computershare – check the name on your certificate) will usually offer a share dealing service. It’s straightforward but their fees can be a bit higher.

2. Transfer to an online broker – Open an account with a broker (HL, AJ Bell, etc.) and ask them to help transfer the paper certificate into electronic form (CREST). There’s normally a small admin charge, but once it’s electronic you can sell whenever you like.

If you just want to cash out, the registrar route is often easiest. If you’re likely to hold or trade more, it’s worth moving them to a broker account.

wmb194

barbie9411 said:

Hi how do I convert my paper share certificate into electronic or simply sell the shares?

Do you have a brokerage account already? If so, you could look at lodging it in that and if not a good option is iWeb (Lloyds) which has no account fee, charges £5 per trade and with which you can lodge certificates for LSE listed shares - these days not all brokers will. This would 'dematerialise' them (make electronic) and give you an easy way to sell them.

https://www.iweb-sharedealing.co.uk/

Otherwise you can ask your share registrar. Generally they tend to charge rip-off fees but there can be exceptions when the value of the holding is very small.

badger09

wmb194 said:

barbie9411 said:

Hi how do I convert my paper share certificate into electronic or simply sell the shares?

Do you have a brokerage account already? If so, you could look at lodging it in that and if not a good option is iWeb (Lloyds) which has no account fee, charges £5 per trade and with which you can lodge certificates for LSE listed shares - these days not all brokers will. This would 'dematerialise' them (make electronic) and give you an easy way to sell them.

https://www.iweb-sharedealing.co.uk/

Otherwise you can ask your share registrar. Generally they tend to charge rip-off fees but there can be exceptions when the value of the holding is very small.

OP
If you don’t already have a share dealing account, I would recommend IWEB. I used them very recently to sell certificated shares in Lloyds Banking Group PLC. 

The whole process was very slick. From posting the certificates to receiving sale proceeds in my bank account took only 9 working days. 

subjecttocontract

Some share certificates have a decorative value which shouldn't be overlooked.