stock transfer form checklist

read the document to make sure it meets your needs and that you’ve provided all of the necessary information about your shares. remember that, if you have any questions, you can ask a lawyer for advice.

1. print out the stock transfer form. you should not sign online. 
   stock transfer forms can technically be signed by an ‘under hand’ (ie normal cursive) electronic signature, but parties involved in the share transfer process (eg the person receiving the shares or the person responsible for registering them) may refuse to accept an electronic signature. therefore, printing and physically signing your stock transfer form is the safest option. 

2. sign the stock transfer form.

   • if more than one person currently owns the shares, all of the transferors (ie the people selling the shares) must sign the stock transfer form.

   • if a company is selling the shares, there are various ways that the company can sign the document. these include: 

     • one company director signs the stock transfer form for the company and their signature is witnessed. the witness must sign the stock transfer form and print their name, address, and occupation.

     • two ‘authorised signatories’ (ie company directors or the company secretary) sign the stock transfer form for the company.

   • make sure that you also meet any formalities required by the documents (eg the articles of association) of the company signing the form or the company whose shares are being transferred. for example, a company might require that documents for the transfer of their shares are signed in a certain way.

3. sign certificate 1 or certificate 2 if you’ve included a certificate in your stf. these certificates must be signed and dated by the person (or people) that signed the transfer form (the transferor).

   • if the transferor is a company, you should apply the same signing rules as above when signing a certificate (eg a director should sign and their signature should be witnessed).

4. stock transfer forms must be dated. complete the stock transfer form by writing the date the form is completed (ie executed) in the ‘date’ field. 

   • if only one person signs the form, this is the date that the sole person signs.

   • if more than one person signs, this is the date the last person signs.

to complete your share transfer, you’ll have to: 

• pay any stamp duty due on your transaction 

• send your stock transfer form to hmrc for ‘stamping’, and

• send your stf, share certificate and, if relevant, the letter hmrc sent to you after stamping your stf to the registrar of the company whose shares you’re transferring. the registrar will register the new owner as the shares’ owner on the company’s register

for more information on this process, read the faq ‘how do i execute a stock transfer form and complete the transfer process?’.