Transfer Agent

Transfer agent

Individual or institution a company appoints to look after the transfer of securities.

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transfer agent

A company, generally a bank or trust company, appointed by a firm to transfer that firm's securities. Security holders may send the security certificates directly to the transfer agents by registered mail. The security should be endorsed with a letter of instruction included. The firm's agent is listed on its certificates. The transfer agent is also likely to maintain the current record of security owners for transmitting dividends, reports, security distributions, and so forth.

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Transfer Agent

A financial institution that acts, for a fee, as a record keeper for a publicly-traded company, investment company, or similar company. A transfer agent is responsible for issuing stock certificates, dealing with lost or stolen certificates, and generally maintaining accurate records for the client company. A transfer agent is particularly important because many investment companies have a large number of investors with a small amount of equity.

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Transfer agent. A transfer agent is responsible to a corporation for keeping track of who owns the corporation's stock and bonds and whether those securities are registered in the name of an individual investor or a brokerage firm, which is known as street name registration.

In some cases, stocks can be registered directly on the books of an issuer or its transfer agent using the direct registration system (DRS).

Increasingly, ownership records are electronic, though a transfer agent may issue stock and bond certificates to new owners if they request them. The transfer agent also receives certificates that represent securities that have been sold or returned to be reregistered.