Depositing share certificates

If you hold any UK investments on share certificates, you can deposit them into a Bank of Scotland Share Dealing Account, free of charge, and when you decide to sell, it will be quicker, easier and cheaper compared to selling share certificates. Please note, the transfer process will take around  10 working days from the day we receive your certificates, to the point the transfer is complete and you can sell you stock.

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 £25.
• 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.

How to Transfer

1.     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.

2.     Simply download and print out both the relevant transfer form below and the CREST Transfer Form for each stock holding.

3.     Complete, sign and return the required information, attach the relevant share certificates and return to the address provided on the transfer forms.

You should be aware that you will be unable to trade any stocks being deposited into your account whilst the transfer is pending. We recommend that you send your certificate by recorded or special delivery as we accept no responsibility for the loss of any certificates.

Please remember

We can only transfer holdings where there is no change in beneficial ownership ie. the account name should match the name on the certificate. We do not offer a certificated share transfer facility into our SIPP.

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, 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.