UKSA director Eric Chalker spotted something in a recent issue of MoneyWeek magazine, dealing with shareholder rights, which didn’t look quite right. The author had suggested that there is no difference between shares held in a nominee account and those held in other ways, but in fact, unlike the use of certificates or personal Crest accounts, investors using nominee accounts are not the legal owners of their shares. As a result of UKSA’s intervention, MoneyWeek published a full page article on the subject in its 11th February issue, now republished for its online subscribers modified as requested by UKSA to emphasise one particular disadvantage of holding shares in a nominee account.
Mr Chalker has welcomed MoneyWeek’s acknowledgement of the points put to it by UKSA and their publication in this influential magazine. Mr Chalker said:
"Ending the scandal of the way nominee account users are treated in the UK is a priority for UKSA. Our first task is to ensure that more commentators are made aware of the restrictions placed upon these investors, including the loss of their shares without any say in the matter when companies are taken over by 'schemes of arrangement'. This is an area where the law must be changed."
