how to locate lost stock shares

^{How to Locate Lost Shares of Stock}

• Home Search. Search your paper files at home. It’s quite easy to put a stock certificate in a safe place, and then forget where you’ve put it.
• Broker Contact. Contact your broker to ensure the stock is not being held in “street name.” You may have turned the certificates over and forgotten about it.
• Investor Inquiries. Contact the company you’ve invested in and ask for the investor relations department. ...
• Request a Stop Transfer. Contact the broker or transfer agent that handled the original registration and request a “stop transfer.”
• Order a Replacement. If you can’t find the missing certificate, contact the company for a replacement. ...

How can I trace lost shares?

You can also read a full transcript here. Check your internet connection, disable any ad blockers, and try again. The following excerpt has been edited for clarity.

How do I find lost stocks?

However, before issuing a new certificate, corporations usually require the following:

• The owner must state all the facts surrounding the loss in an affidavit;
• The owner must buy an indemnity bond to protect the corporation and the transfer agent against the possibility that the lost certificate may be presented later by an innocent purchaser. ...
• The owner must request a new certificate before an innocent purchaser acquires it.

How to find unclaimed stocks and bonds?

Your search could show:

• Matured savings bonds or Treasury notes that no longer earn interest
• Missing payments on series H or HH savings bonds, or
• Missing payments for securities held in Legacy Treasury Direct

How to find unclaimed stock?

Search for Money from Banking and Investments

• Bank Failures – Search for unclaimed funds from failed financial institutions. ...
• Credit Union Failures – Find unclaimed deposits from credit unions.
• SEC Claims Funds – The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lists enforcement cases in which a company or person owes investors money.

More items...

How do I find lost stocks for free?

The National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA) has set up a free website at www.unclaimed.org that will link you to the appropriate department in each state that holds unclaimed funds. (IMPORTANT: this is a .

How do I find my old stocks?

Call the Financial Stock Guide Service at (800) 367-3441 and ask for the custom research department. They will be able to tell you, for a fee, whether or not your shares are active or obsolete. In business since 1927, they also publish a directory that updates annually. Go to www.spinksmythe.com or call (800) 622-1880.

What happens if shares are lost?

When a company receives an intimation that you have lost the shares, the folio number or the details provided to the company are frozen—in lieu of the lost one. This is done by the company to prevent any fraud or transfer of shares.

Can lost shares be found?

To track down lost shares the first step should be to contact the company's share registrar, in cases where the company name is known.

How do I trace old shares?

Trace your old shares with registrars Capita, Computershare and Equiniti, which will be able to search their records. If they locate unclaimed dividends, they will issue cheques to the value of the amount that is due. Some companies impose a 12-year time limit on dividend claims.

How do I find out if I have stocks in my name?

Contact the company you've invested in and ask for the investor relations department. Identify yourself, then inquire when the stock certificate was registered to you, and when it was mailed. The company should have a complete record of this transaction and should have tracked the certificate.

Replacing A Lost Certificate

Many people prefer to take delivery of and hold their stock certificates – a practice that has its advantages; the company knows how to reach you,...

Researching Old Stock Certificates

Sometimes you know a deceased relative held a position in a stock he swore never to sell, but you can't find the certificates or evidence of a curr...

Finding Forgotten Accounts

A person moving from one town to another may forget to close a safe deposit box containing stock certificates. If the bank is unable to locate the...

Is The Stock Certificate Valuable?

If you do find lost shares, consider their actual market value before making a claim. The fees involved in claiming the property and having new cer...

How to find lost shares of stock?

How to Locate Lost Shares of Stock. If you’ve invested in a company's stock shares, your broker may have offered an option to request paper certificates. The stock is registered by the company in your own name, and the certificates have a unique serial number as well as an indication of the number of shares you own.

What does it mean to lose stock certificates?

These are valuable documents that should be handled with care. Losing them means taking some inconvenient steps to get them replaced.

What happens if you find a missing certificate?

If you eventually find the certificate, notify the transfer agent or broker to lift the stop transfer.

What to do if you can't find a lost certificate?

If you can’t find the missing certificate, contact the company for a replacement. You must sign an affidavit that gives the circumstances surrounding the loss and buy an indemnity bond, which will relieve all parties of any responsibility should the missing certificate be sold or transferred by the party holding it.

Can you put a stock certificate in a safe place?

Search your paper files at home. It’s quite easy to put a stock certificate in a safe place, and then forget where you’ve put it. The same thing can happen to college diplomas, tax returns, insurance policies, bank statements and contracts.

Do brokers have to have a certificate of purchase?

Brokers normally hold unregistered certificates for their clients, and your broker should have an electronic record of the company name, date of purchase, and the number of shares you purchased .

What happens to physical shares?

The physical shares end up as pieces of paper that are filed away and forgotten. Not that all investors are forgetful, many keep track of their investments, and preserve share certificates, and mutual funds and bank account paperwork. But a relocation or age and illness can easily throw matters off track for them too.

Do elderly people hold on to shares?

Many elderly investors prefer to hold on to their share certificates rather than dematerialising them, which is necessary to trade in or redeem shares. The physical shares end up as pieces of paper that are filed away and forgotten.

Step 1

Look for copies of any old brokerage statements, mutual fund statements and other financial statements. Even if the brokerage firm has since gone out of business, those statements can give you a good starting point.

Step 2

Research the current owners of any now-defunct brokerage firms where you once held stocks and bonds. If a new company bought the assets of that old firm, the acquiring company may still have a record of your account. You can find this information in the financial press and often online as well.

Step 3

Go to the website maintained by your state's division of unclaimed property. Each state has a department that keeps track of unclaimed financial assets. If you do not have the information from your state, you can start your search at the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators website.

Step 4

Click your state on the map from the NCUPA website. This will connect you with the unclaimed property division for your state. Look for the search box, and then enter your last name and first name. Also, search under your maiden name if you held the stocks and bonds before you were married.

Step 5

Review the results of your search and follow the instructions on the site to reclaim your money. Keep copies of any backup paperwork you send to back up your claim for the lost stocks and bonds.

What to do if your securities certificate is lost?

If your securities certificate is lost, accidentally destroyed, or stolen, you should immediately contact the transfer agent and request a "stop transfer" to prevent ownership of the securities from being transferred from your name to another’s. Your broker may be able to assist you with this process and the broker or transfer agent will report ...

What to do if you find a lost certificate?

If you later find the missing certificate, you should notify whomever you called to place the "stop transfer" so that the lost or stolen securities report may be removed. Otherwise, you may have difficulty selling the securities. If you are expecting a certificate through the mail and it doesn't arrive, you should immediately contact ...

Can I get a new certificate to replace a lost one?

Replacing Securities Certificates. You can get a new certificate to replace the missing one. However, before issuing a new certificate, corporations usually require the following: The owner must state all the facts surrounding the loss in an affidavit;

Should securities certificates be safeguarded?

Securities certificates are valuable and should be safeguarded. To avoid the cost and burden of safeguarding certificates, some investors let their brokerage firm hold their securities for them in “street name”.

What to do if a certificate is lost?

However, there are some steps that the shareholder must follow. First, the shareholder must describe the loss and any facts surrounding the loss in an affidavit. Second, the shareholder may be required to purchase an indemnity bond.

What is a stock certificate?

When an investor purchases shares of a publicly traded company they are given a stock certificate. Stock certificates include information about the investor's stock, such as the number of shares purchased.

What is electronic share?

Electronic share transactions allow for automated proxy voting, dividend distributions, and other important information. If an investor does not have or loses their stock certificate, they are still the owner of their shares and entitled to all the rights that come with them. If an investor wants a stock certificate, or if it is lost, stolen, ...

Do investors get a share certificate?

In most cases, investors never receive a physical share certificate as the process is managed electronically by the Central Securities Depository (CSD). 1  Electronic share transactions and processes enable automated proxy voting, dividend distributions, and other pertinent notifications for the shareholder.

Do you need a stock certificate if you lose it?

However, stock certificates are no longer needed in today's world of electronic communication, and even if an investor loses their certificate, they still own the shares.

Can I replace a stock certificate?

Replacing a Stock Certificate. In some cases, however, an investor may choose to hold a physical share certificate, which details their share ownership. A share certificate can be replaced if it is lost, stolen, or damaged. In order to replace the physical certificate, the shareholder will need to contact the company's stock transfer agent. 2 .