The value of shares converted from paper certificates to electronic records of ownership in STRATE has cleared R1.5 trillion. The value of shares dematerialised now accounts for 82 per cent of the total market capitalisation of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The number of shares to have been dematerialised now totals 93.5 billion.
“Bearing in mind that the main thrust of STRATE’s dematerialisation drive only began early last year, the success rate can be regarded as highly satisfactory,” says Monica Singer, CEO of STRATE Ltd.
Singer emphasises that shares may not be sold until they have been converted into an electronic record. Further, holding shares electronically represents a guarantee against theft, fraud, loss or damage of paper share certificates.
She draws attention to the expiry at the end of September of the cover available to shareholders in terms of the Dispossessed Members’ Fund, explaining that the Fund was created to reimburse investors who suffered a loss as a result of their share certificates having been fraudulently sold.
“Investors with share certificates will only be made aware of such fraud when they hand in their certificates for conversion into an electronic record. If they delay doing so until after the end of September, they will no longer have recourse to the Dispossessed Members’ Fund.”
She therefore urges investors to take immediate action by taking their shares to their brokers or banks for dematerialisation.