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What Does A California Transfer Agent Do?

Posted on Oct 24, 2011

In California, the transfer agent (referred to in separate articles on the transfer of securities), are regulated by the federal government, more particularly the US Securities and Exchange Commission. For the estate's personal representative (its administrator or executor), it is important to quickly find out who the transfer agent is for the bonds, stocks, and debentures owned by the decedent.

Transfer agents perform three different tasks:

• They keep track of who owns a company's stocks and bonds and how these securities are held, as well as the number of shares or bonds owned. They issue and cancel certificates to account for a change in ownership.
• They serve as the company's agent to pay interest, cash, or stock dividends or to distribute bonds and stocks to investors. They will also act as proxy, exchange, tender, and mailing agent in the various stock and bond operations of the company.
• They help shareholders and bondholders when certificates have been lost, stolen, or destroyed. When an investor wants to sell certificates, the transfer agent will usually ask for a guaranteed signature before the transaction can proceed.

The estate's representative will usually find the name of the transfer agent of a company's certificates on that company's website or on the "Search the TA Database" page of the Securities Transfer Association.

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