Law Commission call for evidence on intermediated securities

Overview

This is a public consultation by the Law Commission for England and Wales.

Shares and bonds are increasingly held through a system of “dematerialisation” and “intermediation”. In other words, most paper certificates have been replaced by a system in which most investors “own” securities indirectly, through computerised credit entries held through a chain of intermediaries. However, this system of intermediated securities has been the subject of criticism over issues of corporate governance and transparency, among others. There is also uncertainty as to the legal redress available to investors in certain situations.

Our call for evidence is the first step in the intermediated securities scoping study. We provide a short summary of the issues and seek stakeholders’ views about, and evidence of, their experience of the intermediated securities system. The purpose of the scoping study is to inform public debate, develop a broad understanding of potential options for reform and develop a consensus about issues to be addressed in the future.

For more information about this project, click here.

We recommend that consultees read the call for evidence before responding to the questions. Consultees do not need to answer all the questions if they are only interested in some aspects of the call for evidence.

About the Law Commission: The Law Commission is a statutory body, created by the Law Commissions Act 1965 (“the 1965 Act”) for the purpose of promoting the reform of the law. It is an advisory Non Departmental Public Body sponsored by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). The Law Commission is independent of Government. For more information about the Law Commission please click here.

Responses to this call for evidence: We may publish or disclose information you provide us in response to Law Commission papers, including personal information. For more information on how we consult and how we may use responses to the call for evidence, please see page i of the call for evidence. For information about how we handle your personal data, please see our privacy notice.