Changing your name on shares: Computershare and Equiniti

How do I change my name with Computershare or Equiniti?#

Write to the registrar that keeps the company's register of shareholders, and send the document that changed your name. Computershare uses its own Change of Name form and accepts the original deed poll or a copy certified by a solicitor or notary public. Equiniti takes a signed letter with the original or a certified copy. Both work by post, and neither registrar's instructions mention a fee.

Which registrar looks after my shares?#

Check a share statement or a letter about the shares: the registrar's name is on it, with your shareholder reference, which both registrars ask for. Equiniti says the reference is on your share certificate too, and Computershare calls it the Shareholder Reference Number (SRN): a C, I or G followed by 10 digits. Computershare's form finder lists HSBC Holdings and Unilever, for example, and Equiniti's Shareview names Lloyds Banking Group, National Grid, Shell and Vodafone. If your shares are spread across both registrars, each needs its own request.

Changing your name with Computershare#

1. Get the form. In Computershare's Investor Centre, open Help, then Printable Forms, type the company's name and choose Change of Name under Amendments. It is a general form, on which you write the company's name.
2. Fill it in in black pen and capitals: the company, your SRN, your new and previous names in full with your titles, and your new and old signatures. The form says it "must be signed by ALL named shareholders". For a holder under 18, or under 16 in Scotland, a parent or legal guardian signs and states their capacity.
3. Add one document: your marriage or civil partnership certificate, the original or an official copy; your deed poll or decree absolute, the original or a certified copy; or a statutory declaration sworn before a commissioner for oaths, notary public, justice of the peace or solicitor.
4. Add your share certificates, if you hold any. Computershare amends them, and warns that the new certificate is posted at your own risk: if it is lost in the post, you may have to pay for a replacement.
5. Post everything to Computershare Investor Services PLC, The Pavilions, Bridgwater Road, Bristol BS99 6ZZ.

Computershare is strict about copies. Its notes say a certified copy "is one which is certified in ink by a Solicitor or Notary Public", and that it is "not legally able to accept a photocopy". We certify copies only of the deeds we draft, from £6 for 2, up to £25 for 20, but Computershare's rule is one our copies do not meet: send the original, or ask a solicitor or notary to certify a copy. The form gives no timescale and does not say whether originals come back.

Changing your name with Equiniti#

Equiniti asks for a letter rather than a form. Give, for all your holdings with it:

• the current and previous names of the registered shareholders;
• the name of each company the shares are in;
• your shareholder reference numbers;
• your registered address, or the old and new addresses if you have moved;
• the signatures of the registered shareholders.

Send it with the document Equiniti lists for your reason:

Equiniti says it "can only accept original or certified copies of documents", and its change of name page does not say who must certify a copy. It deals with a request within 5 business days of receiving it. Its returns team works to a 3-day service level from the day after the post arrives, and Equiniti asks you to allow up to 5 working days before asking about the return of your documents. Post the letter to Equiniti, Highdown House, Yeoman Way, Worthing, West Sussex BN99 6DA.

What about my dividends?#

Changing your name and changing where dividends are paid are separate requests. At Equiniti, bank details change online in Shareview Portfolio, under Change my account settings, then My bank details. At Computershare a sole shareholder changes them in Investor Centre under My Profile, then Banking Details; for a joint holding, Computershare asks you to request a dividend mandate form through its live chat. If the account the dividends are paid into is changing name too, changing your name with your bank covers each bank.

Gilts, nominees and other registrars#

• Gilts. Computershare keeps the register of British Government Stocks for HM Treasury, and they have their own change of name form. Its list differs: an original or official copy of a "Stamped Deed Poll", a term the form does not explain; a copy of the London or Edinburgh Gazette carrying the deed poll's notice; a statutory declaration; or a declaration of identity by a person of public standing, such as a GP, minister or MP. Copies must be certified by a solicitor, bank manager or justice of the peace. For a joint holding only the holder whose name has changed signs. It goes to British Government Stocks (Gilts), at the same Bristol address but postcode BS99 6ZW.
• Nominees and CREST. In Computershare's Company Nominee Service, it says, the nominee company becomes the registered owner of the shares and you receive statements instead of a certificate. For shares held through an investment platform or a stocks and shares ISA, tell the platform: pensions, savings and investments shows how the main ones change a name. Equiniti cannot update holdings on the CREST system, which Euroclear UK & Ireland runs, and asks you to contact your CREST sponsor.
• MUFG Corporate Markets. The third registrar in our pensions, savings and investments table publishes no general change of name process. Its online update form is for shareholders who have had its letter about updating their details, and takes an upload of a change of name deed, a marriage certificate or other official proof; after a divorce, the decree absolute or final order with your birth certificate.