Submitted by nsscadmin on
We get this question occasionally from people cleaning out an old desk or office, executors of estates and relatives cleaning out a deceased’s old safety deposit box. Companies may not issue stock certificates anymore, but there are still plenty gathering dust out there. So, if you find out in a drawer or amongst your parent’s old financial papers what can you do with it?
Step one when you find an old stock certificate is to find out if the company still exists and is still active. You might be able to accomplish this by simply Googling the company’s name. If a simple internet search doesn’t give you any answers you can also look in the corporate registry where the company was formed. This information should be found on the stock certificate. In Nova Scotia, you would search in the Registry of Joint Stock Companies. For a list of the other registries across Canada use this link.
Once you’ve determined the company is still active and the name it’s currently doing business under you will need to find out if the company’s shares are tradeable. You can check this information by searching the CSA’s Cease Trade Order Database. The database lists all companies currently under a Cease Trade Order. If the name of the company on your stock certificate is not listed here it may still be tradeable.
Once you’ve determined the company still exists and is tradeable you need to have the stock certificate registered in your name. If you are the original purchaser of the stock then you do not need to worry about this step. If not, you will need to have it transferred to you. To do so you will need to contact the company’s transfers agent which may be listed on the certificate, or contact the company directly. Transfer agent and company contact information can be found online at http://www.sedar.com/.
Once the stock certificate is registered to you can now legally trade it. Once you’re ready to do that you must deposit the shares into a brokerage account.
If the share certificate is for a defunct company unfortunately you will not be able to trade it. However, there are many collectors and historians that collect old share certificates that may be interested in yours also known as scripophily.