Share Certificates

If you own or have inherited physical share certificates, you’ll want to know what you can do with them. This page looks at the transition from physical certificates to electronic shares, commonly asked questions and any options you might need to consider.

Physical share/shareholder certificates have long been a tangible proof of investment and representation of ownership in a company. Traditionally, these paper certificates were issued to shareholders as a physical record of their investment.

However, physical share certificates are becoming things of the past as the shift towards electronic records and digital trading platforms has made the management and transfer of shares more efficient and secure.

Why would I not convert to electronic shares?

Shares held electronically will no longer be held directly in your name – and your details won’t appear on the company’s shareholder register. You still remain the beneficial owner, but you should check how this might affect any income, shareholder perks, and any other benefits.

And unlike with share certificates, you may get charged a management fee to hold shares electronically on a provider’s platform. There are no charges to hold shares in the HL Fund and Share Account. View all charges.

Not all share certificates are eligible for lodgement (conversion to electronic shares). A company can only lodge certificates if they're CREST eligible & tradeable through their partners in the market. There are also other considerations, such as corporate actions, which might make a share certificate ineligible for lodgement.

I have inherited paper share certificates, what do I do with them?

It’s highly recommended to have them digitised and turned into electronic shares. The UK government announced in 2022 they would be digitising paper share certificates and ceasing the issuance of new paper share certificates.

Once a death has been recorded, you’ll be able to sell share certificates after they have been transferred into you (or the executors) name. You transfer the shares into your name by contacting the registrar directly.

Once the share certificates are in the name of an executor, they can be lodged into a Fund and Share Account using the lodgement process. While no deadline has been announced for the conversion from paper certificates to electronic, with the extra security, transparency and ease of management that electronic shares bring, it’s worth taking these steps earlier rather than later.

How do I add share certificates to my online account?

It’s easy to transfer paper share certificates already in your name into the HL Fund and Share Account.

If you have a Fund and Share Account already all you need to do is:

1. Complete a CREST Transfer form. CREST is an acronym for Certificateless Registry for Electronic Share Transfer.
2. Return the CREST form to us, along with your share certificates.

That’s it.

You’ll be able to view your shares online or with the HL App at any time.

The process usually takes 5 to 10 working days. Given the potential cost of loss mentioned above, we recommend returning your CREST Transfer form and certificates by recorded delivery.

If you don’t already have a Fund and Share Account, you can open one online with as little as £1, or by setting up a Direct Debit from £25 per month.

Explore certificated share dealing

Find out more about the HL Fund and Share Account

Frequently asked questions

• Can I sell certificated shares/share certificates?

  Yes, this is known as certificated share dealing but it is only done by a handful of companies. We no longer offer a certificated share dealing service. With firms that do, you can normally only sell share certificates over the phone or by post. You’ll then need to sign a transfer form and return it to them with your share certificates before getting your money sometime later. It also often involves higher costs than if you transferred the certificated shares into electronic shares and then sold them via a broker, such as HL.

• I have lost my share certificate, what can I do?

  HL must have the physical share certificates in order to send them off to the registrar to convert to electronic shares (known as lodgement), so cannot contact the registrar on your behalf. You must go directly to the registrar to request a new certificate. There is likely to be a charge for the issuing of a new certificate.

  If you’re unsure who the registrar is, the information and contact details are usually available through a quick online search. If after this you still don’t know, you can ask HL to help find this information for you.