Share certificate

Freetrade Chat đŸ”„
1

Hello.
Newbie here. I’ve just bought shares, where can I find the share certificate?

Thanks in advance.
Casey

2

Hey, physical share certificates are not given out anymore and are being phased out. Freetrade have never given physical certificates.

You can get your contract notes in the app by selecting the shares you bought.

You’ll also get a monthly statement of shares held

1 Like
3

Found, thank you.

4

Hi KC,

Welcome to Freetrade.

If you have a second would you be able to share what your Freetrade user number is in the ‘How many users’ thread?

Your user number can be found within the my account section, feel free to leave the last few digits off if you wish.

This is how the community track how many users Freetrade have signed up.

5

you dont own the shares on FT so no Share certificate :innocent:

6

You’re the beneficial owner of any shares you buy and Freetrade hold these as custodian on your behalf

1 Like
7

Thanks for your question @KC.Jones.

Just to give some more clarity around the comment that @BlueSonic made too: when you buy shares on most brokers in the UK, the shares you buy are held via what’s called a “nominee” account. If you look at a shareholder register then, you wouldn’t see your name, but you would see an entry for “Freetrade Nominees” that is reflective of the shareholdings of all Freetrade customers in a particular stock.

You are what is called the “beneficial owner” of the shares that you buy. This is distinct from the “legal owner” which in our case is Freetrade Nominees. This is common with most retail stockbrokers in the UK and basically means that you are entitled to all economic benefits that come with holding a share - gains (and losses) from share price changes and any dividends or other distributions that are made by the company.

Basically this system all works because most share trading is now “dematerialised”. Going back to your original question about share certificates, this is the reason that brokers today don’t typically issue individual share certificates. Shareholdings are maintained in a central securities depositary as entries on a ledger and transactions are verified and settled between brokers.

3 Likes
8

Thank you