Jul 21, 2024
BP and Shell among UK companies mounting push to ditch paper shares
BP, Shell, BAE Systems and other top UK companies are mounting a lobbying push to make shareholder registers fully digital, fearing that a planned overhaul will fall short and leave London further behind rival listing venues. Ending the use of physical share certificates is widely seen as a first step to modernising how UK-listed companies communicate with their shareholders and tackling the estimated two tonnes of paper sent by London-listed groups to custodian banks every day, much of which piles up in wheelie bins. Tens of thousands of shareholders in each of the UK's biggest public companies still hold paper shares, with some companies sending more than 500,000 pieces of paper to inform them of annual meetings. Most shares in London-listed companies are held digitally through a central depository, known as CREST. But companies must maintain a separate register for a minority of investors, usually with low-value holdings, who still hold paper share certificates. BP, Shell, BAE Systems and National Grid - some of the UK's most valuable listed companies - were involved in GC100 discussions in recent days to launch a fresh push for an "Irreversible" move towards full digitisation, according to people involved and emails seen by the FT. Lobby groups TheCityUK, UK Finance and the Association for Financial Markets in Europe have also been involved in discussions about a letter asking Flint to stick to his original proposal, the people added.
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