Lost Stock Certificate Surety Bond

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If you lose your stock certificate, there is no need to panic. Even without the certificate, that person still owns the shares. Most, if not all, stock certificates issued today are in registered form. This is contrary to bearer form. When a stock is in bearer form, the only proof of the stock is the certificate itself. This is very rare and would make it nearly impossible to issue a lost stock certificate bond.

In order to replace the physical certificate, the shareholder must contact the company’s stock transfer agent. Most transfer agents are banks or trust companies. Sometimes a company acts as its own transfer agent. You can usually find the contact information of the transfer agent by visiting the website of the company in which you own the stock. If the information is not available on the website, contact the firms investor relations department.

“We were very pleased with the efficiency and knowledge put forth by Surety1. We tried 5 other bond companies before we could get the required bond to replace a stock that my husband had lost 33 years ago. Without your help we probably would not have gotten the stock replaced and our brokerage firm was informed of your ability to come through in a difficult situation.” W.H. 

Steps to Follow to Replace a Lost Stock Certificate

1. First you must notify the transfer agent of the loss. The transfer agent will place what is called a “stop transfer” on the certificate. This is to prevent others from cashing it in.
2. The transfer agent or the broker-dealer will then notify the SEC of the lost or missing certificates.
3. A lost instrument bond for a stock certificate is required by the issuing company when a stock certificate has been lost or misplaced. The lost stock certificate bond is required by the transfer agent. It is a third-party guarantee that if the transfer agent a financial loss because it replaced the lost stock certificate the surety company will pay out to make them whole again.

The lost stock certificate bond is fairly easy to obtain—all we need is a completed application. The cost of the bond can be as low as 1.5% of the bond amount with a minimum of $100. As it is an open penalty bond, the bond amount is based on the value of the securities on the day the transfer agent issued the stop transfer.

The bonds are usually open penalty. This means the amount of the bond would automatically increase if the value of the stock increased. The premium will be based on the value of the stock at the time the bond is purchased. The premium is due one time only, at the time of issuance (there is no renewal required). You can apply for this bond using our easy to use, online application . An agent will be in touch within a few hours (during normal business hours) with a quote or questions from our underwriters. Surety1 has been providing lost instrument bonds since 2003 and is rated A+ by the BBB.