Share Certificate

Share Certificate which is also known as Stock Certificate or Certificate of Stock,  is a document issued by a company certifying that on the date the certificate is issued, a certain person is the registered owner of specific number of shares in the company. A company issues its shares of a specific value in order to raise funds to start a business or to buy assets for the business, these are issued in a document form which is called share certificate. When an individual buys shares of a company he is given share certificate. This certificate is a proof of his ownership and the investor gets the right to have dividend in companies profits, right to vote within company and right to take part in the annual general meeting of the company. Usually a shareholder with stock certificates can vote in a shareholders’ general meeting but sometimes a shareholder with a stock certificate can give a proxy to another person to allow him to vote.

A Share Certificate must include the following information:
Name of the Company
Type or class of shares issued
Name and address of the shareholder
Number of shares held
Value of the share
Amount paid (or treated as paid) on shares
A signature from a director or secretary of the company
Unless the terms of issue or the articles provide to the contrary, the company must issue a share certificate within two months of the issue or transfer of any shares.