In Print

Janet Wynn, DTCC managing director, Deriv/SERV, International and Asset Services

Janet Wynn, DTCC managing director, Deriv/SERV and International, recently published an article about global trends in dematerialization in Financial i, a quarterly publication dedicated to interactive solutions, information solutions and infrastructure in global financial services.

“Markets in countries across the globe consider paper certificates too expensive to store and process, too easy to forge and all too easy to steal. So they’re getting rid of them and generating big savings in the process,” wrote Wynn.

“The Danes can claim to be among the original European leaders in paperless securities. They began changing some securities to paperless registration as early as 1983…. In Asia, low-volume markets like Sri Lanka and high-volume international markets like Singapore also operate without paper securities. Hong Kong’s active market is pursuing an ambitious plan toward paperless registration.

“US markets are now edging toward ending the practice of issuing common stock on paper…. [In 2005], Delaware updated its laws to eliminate the requirement for paper certificates. Since then, several other states that still required paper stock certificates have also updated their laws.

“So it seems we are close to the end of an era. Left behind – finally – will be a long paper trail littered with high cost, high risks and many ‘fossils’.”  @

[To read the entire article, titled “Stop the presses,” which appeared in the Q4 2005 issue of Financial i, visit www.dtcc.com and click the No More Paper icon at the bottom of the page.]