Sending shares to other users

By send I presume you mean transfer ownership. What we need to remember is that shares are a property covered by strict financial regulations. Brokers including Freetrade would be wary of doing anything that has any sniff of money laundering. Additionally, HMRC would be interested in transfer of wealth.

So, the upshot is that brokers will transfer ownership and require appropriate official transfer forms etc to be signed. Alternatively, they will transfer ownership through linked accounts (typically owned by people at the same physical address). The exact details depend on the broker concerned but all will be designed in such a way as to ensure that money laundering prevention regulations are adhered to.

In the case of Freetrade it is a belts and braces approach. The upshot is shares in someone else’s name need to be financed from an account in that person’s name. So you will have to sell your shares and transfer money to their bank account. That would finance the purchase of shares in their name. It is best to confirm this via Freetrade’s ‘in app’ or email help.

It is in your interests to ensure everything is above board.

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