UKSA has published a “Position Paper on Dematerialisation” – see https://www.uksa.org.uk/sites/default/files/2022-12/UKSA-position-on-dematerialisation-published-2022-12-24.pdf
It covers how the existing nominee and Crest systems operate which is an exceedingly complex topic, and what they would like to see if all shareholdings are dematerialised into the Crest system (and paper share certificates scrapped) as they must be soon.
I have been writing on this subject for over ten years for both UKSA and ShareSoc and the UKSA Paper provides a good explanation of the existing system. The ShareSoc campaign on the issue is described here: https://www.sharesoc.org/campaigns/shareholder-rights-campaign/
As one of the few remaining sponsored Crest members I am very keen to retain my rights that this provides such as being on the share register as a “Member” giving undisputed voting rights and clear communication rights.
But even this is proving problematic at present because companies and their registrars are now forcing payment of dividends via bank transfer rather than cheques. But if I buy a new shareholding they don’t know my bank details which creates a delay while they send me a form to register the details. Indeed the same difficulty arises with the few certificated holdings I have.
I am happy to give up receiving dividend cheques because my local bank is closing in May much to my disgust, but this is a system problem that needs resolving.
In the meantime the Digitisation Taskforce created last July needs to get a move on and come up with some recommended solutions before those of us on share registers all die of old age.
Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://twitter.com/RogerWLawson )
You can “follow” this blog by entering your email address below. You will then receive an email alerting you to new posts as they are added.