Dematerialization (securities)

For other uses, see Dematerialization (disambiguation).

In finance and financial law, dematerialization refers to the substitution of paper-form securities by book-entry securities. This is a form of indirect holding system in which an intermediary, such as a broker or central securities depository, or the issuer (e.g., French system) holds a record of the ownership of shares usually in electronic format.[1][2] The dematerialization of securities such as stocks has been a major trend since the late 1960s, with the result that by 2010 the majority of global securities were held in dematerialized form electronically.

  1. ^ "What Is Dematerialization?". ICICI Bank. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
  2. ^ Erica Johansson (2009). Property Rights in Investment Securities and the Doctrine of Specificity. Springer. p. 41. ISBN 978-3-540-85903-1.