Security of Crest

[Saibhris]

My understanding is that when somebody says that their shares are "held in Crest", this is an error because Crest is not an account, it is a settlement system. Your shares are "held" by virtue of the fact that the Crest system assists in the entry of your name on the share register of the PLC concerned. Is this correct?

What course of action is open to you therefore if you wish to sell some shares but your Crest sponsor (a broker such as Morroughs/Dolmen/Davy or an intermediary such as Sharewatch) has gone insolvent and has ceased trading? Given that your name is on the register of the PLCs in which you purchased shares via Crest, is it just a case of informing Crest of a new sponsor?

 

[Humpback]

My understanding is that when somebody says that their shares are "held in Crest", this is an error because Crest is not an account, it is a settlement system. Your shares are "held" by virtue of the fact that the Crest system assists in the entry of your name on the share register of the PLC concerned. Is this correct?

Yes, this is correct. Crest communicates with the registrar of shareholders for the individual stocks. If you buy or sell stocks, Crest sends a message to the registrar to have the old names taken off and new names added.

What course of action is open to you therefore if you wish to sell some shares but your Crest sponsor (a broker such as Morroughs/Dolmen/Davy or an intermediary such as Sharewatch) has gone insolvent and has ceased trading? Given that your name is on the register of the PLCs in which you purchased shares via Crest, is it just a case of informing Crest of a new sponsor?

Who's actually holding the stock for you? If your broker is holding them in a nominee account, it may be more difficult to get access to the stock, since their name will actually be on the register rather than yours.

I believe this may have been the issue with the problems that happened to investors using Morroughs back whenever.

 

[Saibhris]

I don't have a nominee account, and I have been receiving regular communications directly from all the companies concerned (AGMs, EGMs, M&A notifications, dividend cheques, etc). I am therefore satisfied that my name and address is on the company share register.

My question is how to sell these shares should the broker/intermediary I used to purchase them go out of business? My Crest a/c was opened under the auspices of this broker and Crest will only deal with brokers.

 

[Ravima]

you can chaneg broker at any time. There may be a fee for transferring from old broker to new broker, but it is straighforward.