UK moves closer to scrapping paper share certificates
Paper share certificates, which generations of investors have stashed away in drawers, may soon be scrapped.
The government indicated yesterday it was ready to back a recommendation from a banking industry lobby group on switching to full electronic ownership of UK shares.
Jacqui Smith, industry minister, said the proposal from the European Securities Forum, which lobbies for clearing and settlement reforms, “fits in well“ with the government's forthcoming Company Law Reform Bill.
About 10m UK investors still hold paper certificates, many of them the legacy of the privatisation and demutualisation programmes of the 1980s and 1990s. Most shares, about 85 per cent, are already held electronically.
But the ESF said a change in the UK would send an important signal to other European markets on the need for reform. Switching to compulsory electronic ownership would also save ￡110m to ￡230m over three years, it added.
Previous bids to scrap paper certificates in 2001 and 2002 ended in compromise after failing to win Department of Trade and Industry backing because of a lack of consensus among the broking community. It was agreed that those who wanted to keep share certificates should be allowed to do so.
Werner Frey, chief executive of the ESF, insisted yesterday the DTI was on board this time. The move was also backed by European financial regulators, the global group G30, and the European Commission which sees it as a key step towards harmonising share trading across national borders.
France scrapped paper certificates in the early 1990s and Italy in the late 1990s, but other important markets including the US, Germany and Switzerland still have paper shares.
Although details of the government's proposal are still being worked out, paper certificates are likely to be replaced by regular statements of each investor's shareholdings, similar to a bank statement. The Company Law Reform Bill, expected to be published in the autumn, would also cover improvements to shareholders' rights and ways of making it easier for companies to communicate with shareholders electronically.
Angela Knight, chief executive of Apcims, the lobby group for private client brokers, said any changes had “to go hand in hand with shareholder rights”.
英国拟告别纸质股票
一代代投资者存放在抽屉里的纸质股票，不久后可能被废弃。
英国政府昨天表示，它准备采纳一个银行业游说团体的建议，将英国的股权凭证完全电子化。
英国工业部长杰基?史密斯(Jacqui Smith)表示，欧洲证券论坛(European Securities Forum)的这一建议，与政府即将出台的《公司法改革法案》(Company Law Reform Bill)“非常吻合”。欧洲证券论坛正游说政府推行清算和结算改革。
大约有1000万英国投资者仍然持有纸质股票，这些股票中有许多是80、90年代私有化和股份化方案的产物。目前多数股票(85%)的所有权是电子形式的。
但欧洲证券论坛表示，英国的这一改变将向其它欧洲市场发出改革必要性的重要信号。该组织补充说，转向强制性的电子所有权也将在未来三年节省1.1亿至2.3亿英镑。
2001年和2002年废除纸质股票的努力未赢得贸工部的支持，因为经纪业界未能就此达成共识，此后这些努力以折衷而告终。据当时达成的协议，想要保持纸质股票的人应获准这样做。
欧洲证券论坛首席执行官沃纳?弗雷(Werner Frey)昨天坚持认为，贸工部这次站在他们这一边。此举也得到了欧洲金融监管人士、全球团体G30和欧盟委员会的支持。欧盟委员会将此视为协调各国股票交易的关键步骤。
法国在90年代初废除了纸质股票，意大利于90年代末废除，但其它重要市场依旧存在纸质股票，其中包括美国、德国和瑞士。
尽管政府提案的具体内容仍在制定，但纸质股票可能被每位投资人的定期股权账单所取代，类似于银行账单。
《公司法改革法案》预计将于秋季发布，该法案也涉及到股东权利的改善，以及让公司更便于利用电子手段与股东交流。
