Old share certificates for Alliance & Leicester

[Ifnotnow8]

Hello,

I have just found share certificates for Alliance & Leicester which I believe was taken over by Santander in 2010. Can you please advise how I should go about either selling those shares or get them converted to Santander shares?

Thanks

[XFool]

...You can't sell then now, A&L does not exists.

The A&L shareholder should have received the Santander shares already. For any further information I suggest you contact the Santander Registrar.

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/investing/article-1641564/AL-takover-what-you-need-to-know.html

"But what's the bottom line? For every share they hold, A&L shareholders will get a third of a Santander share plus 18p. The cash element reflects a dividend that Santander has committed to pay based on A&L's results."

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/jan/24/old-share-certificates-worth-anything

[DrFfybes]

As Xfool says - contact the Santander Registrar.

Chances are you will find they were exchanged at the time, and have since been converted to a nominee account, and sold many years ago, but some dear old realtive kept the originals for posterity. If you are really lucky you might find they did this with several old shareholdngs, and spend quite a while on it in the vain hope they still have value.

Or you might be lucky

Paul

[gryffron]

Are they your share certificates? Important you understand that share certificates are not bearer bonds. The shares are owned by the person named on the company’s share register, not by the holder of the physical certificates.

When the shares are converted from one company to another, the registrars send out a new certificate in the new company name, and rarely ask for the old certificates back.

If the shares are yours, you should have received a new share certificate back them. But it is possible the registrars didn’t have your address. In which case, you may be owed a lot of dividends as well as your new Santander shares. So you should definitely contact the registrars for confirmation.

If the share certificates are someone else’s, then it’s most likely they just kept the old certificates for posterity and they have no value. It’s possible they may still be owed shares/money. But not likely. And even if they are, the registrar will only give the shares/dividends to the registered holder (or their legal heirs) and not to the certificate bearer.

Gryff

[Ifnotnow8]

Yes - the share certificates belong to me. I moved house and forgot to inform the Registrar my change of address; and completely forgot about the Alliance & Leicester shares certificates until recently whilst going through my old boxes.

I will approach Santander and pursue the matter. Where do l stand legally if Santander refuses to honour the Leicester & Alliance share certificates?

Thanks

[swill453]

Yes - the share certificates belong to me. I moved house and forgot to inform the Registrar my change of address; and completely forgot about the Alliance & Leicester shares certificates until recently whilst going through my old boxes.

I will approach Santander and pursue the matter. Where do l stand legally if Santander refuses to honour the Leicester & Alliance share certificates?

There's nothing to honour, they're worthless pieces of paper.

As has been said, what matters is who is on the (Santander) shareholders register.

Scott.

[DrFfybes]

Yes - the share certificates belong to me. I moved house and forgot to inform the Registrar my change of address; and completely forgot about the Alliance & Leicester shares certificates until recently whilst going through my old boxes.

I will approach Santander and pursue the matter. Where do l stand legally if Santander refuses to honour the Leicester & Alliance share certificates?

Thanks

Very good point from Gryff, and good news for you - I assumed when you 'found' them it was from a deceased relative.

You need to contact Equinity, as they are the Registrar who administer the Santander shares.

Sadly it's not all good news, the shares are currently worth about 1/2 what they were in 2010, and you'll have over a decade of dividends to collect, which you might need to declare to HMRC in the relevant tax years

[sophia77]

Discovering Alliance & Leicester share certificates is a financial find! To navigate this, consider reaching out to Santander's investor relations or your brokerage. They can guide you on selling the shares or facilitating any conversion to Santander shares post the 2010 takeover. It's a smart move to tap into their expertise for a seamless transition and potential financial gains. Best of luck in navigating this investment discovery!

[XFool]

Discovering Alliance & Leicester share certificates is a financial find! To navigate this, consider reaching out to Santander's investor relations or your brokerage. They can guide you on selling the shares or facilitating any conversion to Santander shares post the 2010 takeover. It's a smart move to tap into their expertise for a seamless transition and potential financial gains. Best of luck in navigating this investment discovery!

You certainly cannot "sell" the A&L share certificates - they are just pieces of paper. So are 'worth' whatever a piece of paper is worth...

But it would be interesting to know how the OP got on, assuming they contacted the Santander Registrar.