What it is
A stock certificate is a physical document that represents ownership of a certain number of shares in a company.
It can include information such as the shareholder’s name, the number of shares, and the stock’s par value, among others.
What it means for you
Nowadays, paper stock certificates are rare, and you probably don’t need them to buy and sell stocks on exchanges.
Locally, the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) uses a paperless trading system also called scripless trading. This means physical certificates are no longer needed to trade stocks.
However, you can still sell physical stock certificates of publicly-listed companies through brokerage services by converting them into online stocks. This process is called lodgment.
On the flip side, you can request for your online stocks to be turned into physical certificates through a process called upliftment. Fees will apply for both processes.
