How to register physical share certificates

Physical share certificates (also known as stock certificates) are a form of ownership for certain types of investments. Although the majority of trading is now online and electronic, physical shares may still be issued in certificate form for certain companies. Physical share certificates are official documents that state the ownership of shares, and may or may not have restrictions for trading.

This can be common for the following scenarios:

• Pre-IPO, or IPO investments
• Employee share purchase plans (ESPP)
• Vested stocks, or employee stock options
• GICs
• Exempt market products

Transfer agents

A transfer agent is a trust company, who is assigned by a publicly-traded corporation to maintain investor’s financial records. Each publicly traded company may have a different transfer agent, and you can usually view your specific transfer agent on the front bottom or back of your physical share certificate. If this information cannot be found on the certificate, you can usually find this information for the company on their website under the ‘investor relations’ area, or simply try an online search for the company name + “transfer agent”.

Some examples of popular transfer agents include:

• Computershare
• AST Trust company
• TSX Trust
• Solium Capital
• Odyssey Trust

If your securities are held in physical certificate form, you may need to contact the issuer’s Transfer Agent to have the holding converted to DRS (Direct Registration System) format. DRS is an electronic version of a physical certificate.

Questrade can deposit your DRS securities into your self-directed trading account. This enables you to trade the security in the open market. Check the bottom of this article for detailed instructions regarding depositing your DRS securities at Questrade.

The Direct Registration System (DRS)

Direct Registration System (DRS) allows registered securities to be held in electronic form without having a physical security certificate issued as evidence of ownership. DRS essentially ‘replaces’ the physical share certificate, and instead the shares are registered electronically with the transfer agent. You are usually issued statements/DRS receipts quarterly, or monthly depending on the specific agent.

How to request a DRS transfer

Once your shares are registered electronically with the transfer agent, you can easily request a transfer to your Questrade account.

Requests through transfer agent - ESPP

Some transfer agents may be able to start the transfer from their end, if the transfer agent is “starting” the process from their side, please provide them with the following information:

• Questrade’s CUID code/number: QSTR
• DTC code/number: 5084
• Your self-directed Questrade account number

Requests through Questrade - DRS/DWAC

If you’d like to submit the request to Questrade directly, you will need to upload the following documents:

1. DRS statement (from the transfer agent)
   • Must be issued within 2 months
   • Must show matching customer name, number of shares, company name and CUSIP
   • Shares must not be under restrictions of any kind, please see below for more information
2. Shares/Warrants Deposit Request form.
   • Complete the Shares/Warrants Deposit Request form.
   • Go to the Upload documents tab under Account Management.
   • Upload the Shares/Warrants Deposit Request form and choose Letter of direction as the document type of the form.
3. For U.S. securities only: Power of Attorney form
   • The original, hand-signed copy must be physically mailed in due to our regulators
     
   • You must leave “Name of transferee” and “Address of transferee” blank when completing the form

DRS transfers may take up to 10 business days to process. For international securities (non-USD/CAD) this process can take between 15-20 business days due to the many intermediaries involved.

Fees

DRS transfers cost $300+HST to process per security if started from Questrade.

If you are transferring to a brand-new Questrade account, you will first need to fund the account with $300+HST to cover the transfer fee before we can begin the process. Fees can only be charged to the destination account for the transfer if you have multiple accounts.