Selling Shares

Selling shares through a broker involves virtually the same procedure as buying. You must normally have possession of the shares, perhaps in a nominee account, that you are selling. However, if you are still waiting for the share certificate from your broker, he should permit you to sell the shares without the certificate (but not if another broker is involved). Very few brokers will now permit their private clients to 'sell short', ie, sell shares which they do not own.

When the contract note arrives, it will be accompanied by a 'transfer note'. This releases your ownership of the shares. Check the details of both contract and transfer notes are correct, then sign the transfer (not the share certificate), and return the transfer and the share certificate to your broker.

The broker will send you payment within a few days. He will not send payment until he has received the share transfer and share certificate.

If the investor dies while holding a portfolio of shares, then the original broker will normally sell the investments for the executor of the estate once probate has been granted.

Selling investment trust shares can be more complex. Any broker will sell the shares in exchange for the share certificate and the full commission. Some trusts will sell the shares for you at a reduced price, others will give you the name of a broker (not your own broker) who will sell the shares at a reduced commission rate. Yet other trusts will have your share holding, if purchased through a savings scheme, in a nominee account and the shares will have to be released from this before you, or the trust, can sell them.