Depositing share certificates

If you hold any UK investments on share certificates, you can deposit them into a Share Dealing Account or Halifax ShareBuilder, free of charge, and when you decide to sell, it will be quicker, easier and cheaper compared to selling share certificates. Please note we do not offer a certificated share transfer facility into our SIPP.

Key benefits

• Deal online or over the telephone - access your account online 24/7, 365 days a year or by telephoning our UK based call centre (lines are open 8am - 9.15pm Monday to Friday and 9am-1pm Saturday excluding English Bank Holidays).
• Highly competitive dealing charges - deal online for only £11.95 (excluding international deals) or over the telephone from £15 (if the value of your deal is under £250 you can also sell shares online for only £5 ).
• Quicker settlement - your trade will settle in 3 working days.
• Shares are held electronically in our nominee - no need to worry about missing paperwork or certificates.
• Automatic dividend reinvestment option - choose to have dividends from UK and Irish CREST eligible stocks automatically reinvested into the source stock with any remaining cash paid into your account.
• Shareholder benefits – if you ask, we can normally make sure you receive any benefits you are entitled to.

Before you can deposit any certificates, you will need to open the appropriate account with us first - check out our 'Products' section for more details on our accounts. Please note, we can only transfer holdings where there is no change in beneficial ownership ie. the account name should match the name on the certificate.

Simply download and print out one of the transfer forms below and a CREST Transfer Form for each stock holding. Complete the required information, sign and return all the forms to the address provided together with the relevant share certificates.

The transfer process will normally take 10 working days from the day we receive your certificates. You should be aware that you will be unable to deal any stocks being deposited whilst the transfer is pending. We accept no liability for the loss of any opportunity during the transfer.

Important Note Regarding Share Certificate Deposits into a Self-Select Stocks & Shares ISA

Under HM Revenue & Customs regulations it is not possible to directly transfer existing holdings into an ISA unless they have matured from an approved employee sharesave, share option or share incentive plan within the last 90 days. If the shares are not from such a plan and you hold paper share certificates you will need to deposit them in a Share Dealing Account or Halifax ShareBuilder, sell the shares then reinvest the proceeds into a Self-Select Stocks & Shares ISA. This sale may trigger a gain for Capital Gains Tax purposes.

If your shares have matured from an approved plan you will need to send us a written request to directly transfer your shares into your Self-Select Stocks & Shares ISA, along with proof that the shares have matured from an approved scheme into your name in the last 90 days. We would recommend that you send such requests at least two weeks before the end of the 90 day period to give us time to carry out relevant checks. Please send this for the attention of Halifax Share Dealing ISA Administration Department at Halifax Share Dealing Limited, Trinity Road, Halifax, HX1 2RG. If you have any questions about this please do not hesitate to call us on 08457 22 55 25.