UK Resident: How to sell shares on the NASDAQ

[TorqueDirty]

Folks,

I'm a UK resident and own shares in a company that will soon list on the NASDAQ.

When the company lists I'd like to sell my shares straight away - or at least be able to do so if I feel the price is right.

I did this years ago with a bunch of share options that I had in the company I worked for at the time and I went through Charles Schwab in the US as they were the company recommended to my by my employer.

I remember there were a lot of tax forms to fill in and I want to have this all done in time for the listing so I can sell ASAP - in case the share price starts to decline after listing.

So my question is: In today's modern world what is the best, more reliable and preferably most cost effective way to sell my shares?

Use Charles Schwab again? Use an App? Something else?

All advice much appreciated

[DonkeyApple]

The key is going to lie with where your shares are currently being held and how long it would take to transfer them to a broker willing to bring them in.

Finding a UK broker that can trade US stocks is the easy part. It's finding one that has a back office that can deal with transfers.

If the company in question is large enough then a spreadbet/CFD firm will offer it which would allow you to short sell to lock in a price and then give loads of time to deal with the physical stock side.

[The Leaper]

I have a block of shares in a USA HQ company. The shares are traded on NYSE and the UK LSE.

The shares are held in an account with Equiniti in the USA and I trade them via Equniti/NYSE, and remit proceeds to my UK bank account.

Equiniti have both a USA and UK set up so I suggest you give them a call and see if they can help out. It may be necessary for you to set up an USA based account with Equiniti, transfer the shares to that account, and then start trading. As stated previously, the transfer of the shares from where they are currently held to Equiniti, or whatever firm you use, may be the biggest obstacle to overcome.

R.

[mikeiow]

US company I work for trades on the NASDAQ & we use E*Trade.
Reasonably straightforward, but as you say, some paperwork (W8-BEN etc) for set up.
I then use Wise (Transferwise) to send any monies across.

[i4got]

I had issues finding a UK broker who was able to transfer company shares in from CAD or US employee share plans (in my case Computershare)

In the end the only company I could find to do it at a reasonable cost was Interactive Investor.

[TorqueDirty]

Thanks guys.

For clarity I own the shares in this company as a result of them acquiring a company I founded a number of years ago.

When the said company acquired my company ( which I had long since left to move on to other things) I got some minimal cash and shares in the new parent co in exchange for my shareholding in the acquired company.

Parent company is now going to list on the NASDAQ with a valuation of over $5bn - so a decent sized company. Actually it is going through a merger with a Special Purpose Acquisition company rather than an IPO - but I think the end result will be the same regards being able to seel my shares.

As to where the shares are currently held - not sure I understand this. I have the share certificates and since these shares are not yet publicly traded I guess I hold them?

[mikeiow]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I quite like blue


(other durations are available...your call!)

[DonkeyApple]

TorqueDirty said:

Thanks guys.

For clarity I own the shares in this company as a result of them acquiring a company I founded a number of years ago.

When the said company acquired my company ( which I had long since left to move on to other things) I got some minimal cash and shares in the new parent co in exchange for my shareholding in the acquired company.

Parent company is now going to list on the NASDAQ with a valuation of over $5bn - so a decent sized company. Actually it is going through a merger with a Special Purpose Acquisition company rather than an IPO - but I think the end result will be the same regards being able to seel my shares.

As to where the shares are currently held - not sure I understand this. I have the share certificates and since these shares are not yet publicly traded I guess I hold them?

SPAC is just the new trend term for a shell company. Clearly not a term thought up by an Englishman over the age of 40

The spac will already be listed and trading if you know which one it is.

[TorqueDirty]

DonkeyApple said:

SPAC is just the new trend term for a shell company. Clearly not a term thought up by an Englishman over the age of 40

The spac will already be listed and trading if you know which one it is.

I do indeed know the existing shell company but I understand that it will trade under a new name once the merger goes through.

And when it comes to share trading I am, as an Englishman over 40 might say, a "shell company" so to speak!

[The Moose]

DonkeyApple said:

If the company in question is large enough then a spreadbet/CFD firm will offer it which would allow you to short sell to lock in a price and then give loads of time to deal with the physical stock side.

Even on a soon-to-be-listed company?

[DonkeyApple]

The Moose said:

DonkeyApple said:

If the company in question is large enough then a spreadbet/CFD firm will offer it which would allow you to short sell to lock in a price and then give loads of time to deal with the physical stock side.

Even on a soon-to-be-listed company?

This was in reference to wanting to trade after the corporate action of speed was of the essence as getting the physical from where it currently is to a broker can be a bit arduous.

[DonkeyApple]

TorqueDirty said:

I do indeed know the existing shell company but I understand that it will trade under a new name once the merger goes through.

And when it comes to share trading I am, as an Englishman over 40 might say, a "shell company" so to speak!

The name aspect won't matter as it's the code and listing that is what they are buying. It's like a UK limited, would can change the name but it's the same legal entity.

What you probably can't do is trade the SPAC on extended settlement and then deliver your stock. It's perfectly possible but I can't think of a single broker actually capable of doing that kind of thing any more.

[TorqueDirty]

DonkeyApple said:

The name aspect won't matter as it's the code and listing that is what they are buying. It's like a UK limited, would can change the name but it's the same legal entity.

What you probably can't do is trade the SPAC on extended settlement and then deliver your stock. It's perfectly possible but I can't think of a single broker actually capable of doing that kind of thing any more.

The current SPAC trades under its existing symbol but then new entity will have a different symbol - if that makes any difference.

[DonkeyApple]

TorqueDirty said:

DonkeyApple said:

The name aspect won't matter as it's the code and listing that is what they are buying. It's like a UK limited, would can change the name but it's the same legal entity.

What you probably can't do is trade the SPAC on extended settlement and then deliver your stock. It's perfectly possible but I can't think of a single broker actually capable of doing that kind of thing any more.

The current SPAC trades under its existing symbol but then new entity will have a different symbol - if that makes any difference.

Doing anything too clever is nigh on impossible these days as few brokers are actually what you would consider 'brokers' but are in fact order routers not doing any broking just simply passing orders.

That aside, I see that you have paper certs. One way or another you're going to have to find a broker that will take delivery but before that you need to know what new paper you are going to get after the corporate action and when. I suspect that your existing paper will become worthless at this point and new paper will be issued to you. The key here is that this can take a long time.

The company will have a 'registrar'. This may be themselves or a third party but I would say that the first step would be to find out who the registrar is and pick up the phone to ask them how and when they are going to process your paper certificates. If they are a mainstream registrar then they may even be able to tell you which brokers they work with most often when it comes to getting physical certs into electronic form etc.

US registrars will be a bit different to the UK side, may even use a different title to registrar but the basic mech will be the same.

[TorqueDirty]

DonkeyApple said:

Doing anything too clever is nigh on impossible these days as few brokers are actually what you would consider 'brokers' but are in fact order routers not doing any broking just simply passing orders.

That aside, I see that you have paper certs. One way or another you're going to have to find a broker that will take delivery but before that you need to know what new paper you are going to get after the corporate action and when. I suspect that your existing paper will become worthless at this point and new paper will be issued to you. The key here is that this can take a long time.

The company will have a 'registrar'. This may be themselves or a third party but I would say that the first step would be to find out who the registrar is and pick up the phone to ask them how and when they are going to process your paper certificates. If they are a mainstream registrar then they may even be able to tell you which brokers they work with most often when it comes to getting physical certs into electronic form etc.

US registrars will be a bit different to the UK side, may even use a different title to registrar but the basic mech will be the same.

Thanks for this DA.

I emailed the the person who is coordinating all communications to shareholders at the soon to be listed company and have asked for some information as to how everything will pan out. Hopefully I'll get the info I need in response.

Fingers crossed it will be both relatively easy and quick. I could do with a "cash injection" so to speak and I also want to be able to sell straight away if I see the share value start to go down post listing.