Guys,
There seems to be a lot of confusion about what is involved in converting shares from "street name" into certificate form.
As the former CFO of two different public companies, I have been involved in this transaction on a number of occasions, and I can assure you that (a) it does take several weeks to carry out, (b)a shareholder is generally unable to trade these shares during this several week period, and (c) it is a monumental pain for a brokerage firm to execute, and they are not likely to bend over backwards to help you make this happen.
As I recollect the steps needed to make this happen, the brokerage firm first submits a request to the company's transfer agent, who in turn needs to contact Depository Trust Company to change by reissuance the share certificates held by DTC to support stock held in "street name". After this is completed successfully, the transfer agent then needs to issue the physical certificates themselves (a very inefficient and time consuming process), and then send them back to the brokerage firm. The brokerage firm then spends some time checking, confirming, and generally moving the certificates through several different in-boxes, before they send the certificates to the stockholder themselves.
Obviously, the shares are in a "state of limbo" while all of this is going on, and cannot be traded.
Bob Davis |
