Ken, I e-mailed Ameritrade and they sent a reply today. This is what they said:
Dear,
There are three steps involved to have a position removed from your account as worthless.
1. It must first be determined if the stock is trading. The most practical way to determine this is to place a market order on the shares with a broker, at the standard broker commission. As a courtesy, if the proceeds from the sell are less than the standard broker commission for a market order, we will adjust it. Example: You sell 100 shares of ABC at 5/32, the proceeds will be $15.63, and the commission will be $15.63. If you sell 100 shares of ABC at 7/32, the proceeds will be $21.88 and the commission will be $18.00. Commissions will only be adjusted on market orders.
If the order executes, then the position is sold and no longer in your account.
If the trade does not execute:
2. Then we must determine if the stock is transferable. If it is transferable, then you can request to have a certificate issued, and the fee is $15.00.
If the stock is not trading, and not transferable:
3. Then we can request that an escrow receipt be issued for those shares. The position would be removed from your account, and the receipt issued to the shareholder. If the security becomes viable later, you may be able to reclaim those shares with the receipt and have them put back into your account. There is no fee for this service, but it is only available if the security does not trade, and is not transferable. (This is not available for IRA accounts)
To have an escrow receipt issued, Ameritrade does need a Letter of Authorization signed by all account holders. The letter only needs to request to have XX (number of shares) (of security symbol) YY be removed from the account, and an escrow receipt issued in their stead.
If you have further questions, please reply to this message or call Customer Service at (800) 669-3900 option 2. Please include the original email(s) if replying to this message.
Thank you, |
