Lost stock cert

August 29, 2007 6:31 AM

I own some restricted stock in an OTCBB company but I have lost the cert. What are my options if any?
posted by josher71 to Work & Money (7 answers total)

The company will have you registered as a shareholder and should be able to reissue the certificate. If they are large enough to have shareholder services, you can contact someone there. If they are a smaller company, the treasurer or CFO should be able to help.
posted by cyclopz at 7:06 AM on August 29, 2007

This is also what security deposit boxes are for. If that's going to be an ongoing issue (e.g., you move a lot), retain the services of a private banker, who will almost always be a broker-dealer or whose firm will have a broker-dealer service.
posted by geoff. at 7:57 AM on August 29, 2007

I say this because contacting and receiving a cert from a company that does not have shareholder services can be a pain the ass.
posted by geoff. at 7:58 AM on August 29, 2007

Open a trading account, and deposit your replacement certificate there. There will be some additional paperwork to register it because it is restricted, but it will be a lot less hassle in the future. Just pick a broker who won't charge for an low activity or no activity account.
posted by Chuckles McLaughy du Haha, the depressed clown at 8:23 AM on August 29, 2007

Call the company ans ask who their transfer agent is. Then call the transfer agent. They should be able to re-issue legend securities.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 11:22 AM on August 29, 2007

I called the transfer agent (who was quite rude) and she told me that I needed a lost instrument bond and that this was usually more expensive than the value of the security.
posted by josher71 at 12:06 PM on August 29, 2007

Assuming that we are talking about securities valued at more than a few hundred dollars, the transfer agent doesn't know what she is talking about...indemnity bonds (to protect the company/transfer agent in case the certificate shows up in someone else's hands later) should cost something less than 5% of the value of the lost security. Did you ask the transfer agent to put a "stop transfer" on the stock? The fact that it is restricted should make the point moot but better safe than sorry.
posted by cyclopz at 1:43 PM on August 29, 2007