Transfer Stuck

Sometimes things go awry…

Part 1 is here: Has A Company Been Acquired?

Part 2

So after I request the broker to handle the transfer of some stock, my broker submits the request to the Transfer Agent requesting the transfer.

Unfortunately, in this case for this company, the transfer agent denies the request.

Turns out the Transfer Agent requires actual paperwork. On paper. The usual electronic request is rejected. (Usually 99.9% of all requests done electronically are accepted.)

So the Transfer Agent sends an email with said document to the broker. The instructions say to print the Stock Transfer document, fill it out and send it to the Transfer Agent.

Included in the stock transfer form is the requirement for Medallion Guarantee Signature stamp.

“A medallion signature guarantee is one of several special certification stamps that guarantees a signature that authorizes a transfer of securities is authentic.”

The broker then informs me that the broker’s policy is to only use the Medallion stamp on their own paperwork, the Transfer Agent’s stock transfer form is not theirs.

The Transfer Agent informs me that they will only accepts a stock transfer form that they originated.

So I am stuck in a Catch-22 situation.

Elsewhere
Catch 22: “A catch-22 is a paradoxical situation from which an individual cannot escape because of contradictory rules or limitations.”

Solution Almost
So I print the Transfer Agent’s stock transfer form myself, and fill it out. This necessitates a call to the Transfer Agent for specific instructions about the form.

I then call a local branch of my primary bank, seeking to make an appointment to get said medallion stamp. (They have done this for in years past, but it has been a while.)

Unfortunately, they inform me they no longer do Medallion stamps. So I am stuck again.

Onward
As it happens, I my wife and I also have accounts at another bank. I call this second bank and make appointment. I go in at the appointment time. I obtain the Medallion stamp in less than five minutes.

I take home the paperwork, copy it, place it in an envelope. Off to the post office to mail it.

Almost Saga
This whole endeavor thus far took over a month, whereas it normally would take three days to completion.

But Wait, There’s More
This is only Part 2. The shares have not yet been transferred. All I have accomplished up to this point is send in a request for the shares to be transferred, hopefully in a way that is acceptable.

“To Be Continued in Part 3.”

Have you experienced stuckness? Let me know here.

Illustrated is a portrait of a left eye, a lover’s gift in the late 1700s in England. Courtesy Philadelphia Museum.

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