When becoming a shareholder of a French company, the choice arises of the method of holding your shares. We tell you everything about it!
In France, the issuance of financial securities (shares, bonds, shares, etc.) is carried out in a fully dematerialized form and is based on a duality:
– Bearer issue
– Registered issue
Depending on the nature of the issue, the shares may be recorded in a securities account maintained by the issuing company or by a financial intermediary, such as a banking institution.
Bearer and administered registered
When the shareholder chooses to hold his shares with his usual financial intermediary, he may opt for a bearer holding or an administered registered holding. In this context, the operational management of the account is ensured by this institution.
Pure registered
In the case of registered shares, the issuing company may appoint an agent to manage the securities accounts for which it is responsible. This agent will then have to keep a register of all shareholders and register the shares in their name in an account.
It is precisely in this context that Uptevia intervenes. The issuing company (or issuer) may appoint Uptevia as agent to act as registrar of the accounts of its shareholders. Uptevia already manages more than 1.5 million registered securities accounts. The securities thus registered in a securities account with the issuer or Uptevia are said to be held in pure registered form.
The bearer holding method assumes that the identity of the holder of the securities is unknown to the issuer. On the other hand, registered securities (pure and administered) allow the issuer to identify its shareholders and communicate directly with them.
The table below summarizes the characteristics of each form of share ownership:
