Q.  How are my investments registered?

A.  Through CREST, where available, in our nominee “St. Ann's Square Nominees Limited”. You are always the beneficial owner of the investments.  They are never part of Pilling & Co’s assets nor, indeed, of the nominee company’s assets.  There may be occasions when identical stocks are pooled together within Crest, or at another custodians, as one block under the title of SASNL. These cannot then be attributable to any individual client and ownership will be evidenced by an electronic bookkeeping entry at Pilling & Co instead of a physical certificate. In these circumstances you are warned, that in the unlikely event of an unreconcilable shortfall after the failure of a custodian, clients may share in that shortfall in proportion to their original share of the assets in the pool.

Q. Can I have a joint nominee account with another person(s)?

A. Yes, each person who is party to the account must sign the nominee agreement, where the agreement is signed by more than one person, it is assumed that they are the joint owners of all cash, securities or other property held and that on the death of any one of the parties to the agreement such ownership will automatically accrue to the survivor(s) who will continue to be bound by the nominee account terms and conditions as if they had signed alone.

Q.  Are my investments secure?

A.  Yes. Pilling & Co accepts absolute responsibility for St. Ann's Square Nominees Limited.  Your investments are not only protected under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), but, with the security of Pilling clients in mind, we also maintain additional professional financial risks insurance to cover the changing level of turnover in our business.  If your investments must be held by a third party, we will use our best endeavours to make sure that only recognised and well-respected financial institutions are used.  There may be further risk with non UK based custodians because of different settlement, legal and regulatory requirements.  In some cases dividend payments may be briefly held in a custodians overseas bank account before payment is made to Pilling & Co.  However, we do not accept responsibility for such third party safe custody obligations.

Q. How do you look after my money?

A. We deal with your money in accordance with the client money regulations of the FSA which, amongst other things, require us to ensure that your funds are clearly segregated from our own in special trust status accounts at banks which are approved by the FSA and subject to an annual risk assessment by us.

Your money however will be held by the approved bank(s) in a pooled account with other client’s money and will not therefore be separately designated with your name. In the unlikely event of the failure of the approved bank resulting in an un-reconcilable shortfall clients may share in that shortfall in proportion to their original share of the cash in the pool.

We require your written authority to hold cash in a deposit style account facility with an approved UK bank.

Should you hold non-UK investments, cash generated from these such as interest and dividends may be held temporarily in overseas banks or branches of approved banks situated outside the UK. You should be aware that client money held in such banks might not be protected as effectively as if held in banks in the UK. The legal and regulatory regime applying to banks in overseas jurisdictions will be different from that operating in the UK. In the event of failure of a bank overseas your money may be treated in a manner different from that which would apply in the UK.

A.  Yes.  You can trade as often as you wish, simply ring our team of dealers who will be pleased to assist you on +44 (0)161 832 6581.

Q.  Do you deal "instantly"?

A.  Yes.  Unlike some nominee schemes, we will deal for you as soon as possible. We do not deal only 'once a day, or even  just 'on certain days of the week'. If preferred, you can often hold on the telephone while your deals are being done.

Q.  How do you confirm my deals?

A.  A contract note is sent to you for every deal showing price, commission etc.  If you do not have a contract note, or the contract you have received is incorrect please tell us without delay and at least  within 2 business days.  Regardless of cause, we can accept no financial liability for missing or incorrect contract notes unless brought to our attention within 10 business days of the original deal(s).

Q. What happens to the proceeds from the shares I sell?

A.  They are automatically credited to your account awaiting re-investment or, alternatively, you can ask to have the money paid to you.

Q. Do you pay interest on cash?

A. Yes. Quarterly, we pay gross interest on your cash on a tiered system at rates fixed by Pilling & Co after a variable administrative deduction.  An example of the rates are detailed below and our current rates are always available on request. 

A.  You. Our dealers are pleased to provide free investment guidance (always on a general "Execution Only" basis) to enable you to make your final investment decisions.  However, you are always responsible for suitability and future investment performance.  Our Investment Managers will be happy to provide more detailed personal analysis of your investment portfolio once you return our Client Agreement.  Details are available on request.

 A.   Yes.  We need your share certificate(s) and a signed CREST transfer form for each holding.  However, the name on the certificate must be yours, your spouse’s or joint names. (see below and Charges).

Q.  Do you accept instructions from a third party?

A.  Unless otherwise agreed in writing, we will act on any instructions we reasonably believe came from you to enter transactions or deal with your assets, regardless of the circumstances and method of communication. If you wish another person or firm to deal with us as your agent you must notify us in writing, giving details of any restrictions concerning their authority to act on your behalf. We will not be liable for any loss or inconvenience suffered by you if we act on any instruction, consent or information given to us by your agent within the limits specified by you.

A.  Dividends are credited to your account and attract interest.   At the end of each tax year we will produce a consolidated tax voucher for you detailing all income including your dividends, tax credits and interest which can be used in preparation for your tax return.

A.  Yes. With the Pilling Income Distribution System all your income is automatically paid straight to your bank or building society account on a quarterly basis. We send you a statement showing the dividend(s) and the amount paid to your bank account. 

Q. How is withholding tax on foreign dividends/cash proceeds dealt with ?

A. Generally we do not make provision for the receipt of gross (or withholding tax adjusted) foreign dividends / cash proceeds but will, if requested investigate the feasibility of doing so on a bespoke basis subject to charges. Claims for withholding tax already deducted will not be made by Pilling & Co without prior agreement. Any reporting of tax/gains required by overseas authorities is your responsibility.

A.  We write to tell you of any action effecting your investments including conversion and subscription rights, takeovers and similar offers. We process any capital reorganisations, demergers etc. Where investments are pooled, entitlements are allocated on a “pro rata” basis and are rounded down to the nearest whole unit.

You must give your clear instructions (preferably in writing) direct to the Settlement Department by the requested date, or we can accept no responsibility whatsoever for any resulting losses or liabilities.

A.  Yes, we send you an annual statement. You will be able to view your valuations on line as often as you wish once you have registered to do so. Simply email your account numbers to us and we will send you instructions and a password.

Q.  Can I have Company Reports and Accounts?

A.  Yes.  We can arrange this but, to keep down costs, we suggest you get these from the Company Registrars direct. Alternatively, they may be available from websites such as Annual Report Services.

A.  Yes. By negotiation, we can arrange for you to attend company meetings, to vote and to receive any other relevant information that is sent to share or unitholders direct.

Q.  Can my investments be sold without my permission?

A. We reserve the right to sell or realise any investment which we are holding (or entitled to receive) on your behalf in order to meet any liabilities you may have incurred to us. Our right to sell any such investment will arise immediately upon default by you in making payment of any amount due to us and in that event we are entitled to sell or dispose of all or any part of such investment (whether these be investments in respect of which the default arises or any other investments for the time being held by us or which we are entitled to receive on your behalf) after the expiry of any statutory notice period.

We shall not be liable to you in respect of any loss arising nor in respect of any choice made by us in selecting the investments to be sold. We will apply the proceeds of sale (net of costs) in or towards discharge of your liabilities to us and will account to you for the balance. In the event that such proceeds are insufficient to cover the whole of your liabilities to us, you remain liable for the balance.

We shall be entitled, without further reference to you, to buy any investment in the market to close any short position created by you and then, subject to any statutory notice period, sell or dispose of any other investments held by us or which we are entitled to receive on your behalf to satisfy in whole or in part the sums due on settlement of any such purchase and its associated costs. We shall not be responsible for advising you about the investment merits of any transactions effected by us pursuant to this section which in all cases will be treated as execution only deals.

A. Yes, we can value the shares at the date of death and send out the appropriate probate valuation, the cost is £10 per stock (subject to a minimum of £30) + vat. Additionally we can release funds to HMRC to cover tax before the probate is released subject to certain conditions. Executors can be spared a significant amount of administrative problems particularly in respect of foreign registered securities by having stock registered in a nominee name

A.  With a minimum of only £20, our commission per deal is 1.65% of the first £10,000 value, 0.5% of the next £90,000 and 0.4% of any excess. We must charge you Government stamp duty at 0.5% of the value when buying shares, preference stocks and convertibles.

A.  Yes. The commission for buying and selling investment trusts is our normal scale, as are unit trust sales.  No commission will be charged on buying unit trusts when we are paid commission from the managers direct.

A.  Whenever possible we trade and hold overseas securities through Crest and although the handling costs are higher than UK securities, Pilling & Co absorb the fees and no extra charge is made.

However, if you choose an investment which cannot be traded or held via Crest and a third party has to be used, there may be extra cost incurred which will be passed on to you. This could be £50.00 per trade and £50.00 annual holding fee and largely depends on the third party we need to use. Please enquire at the time of dealing or transferring stocks. 

Q.   What are the charges to transfer stock out to my own name or that
of another broker?

A.  Transfers out of stocks not purchased through us or purchased through a different Pilling & Co account are subject to a charge of £20 + VAT per security.

This information is issued in accordance with the safe custody and client asset rules of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) which require, amongst other things, that all new and existing clients of UK regulated financial services firms be informed of the arrangements and risks involved in registering their investments in the name of a nominee company and authorising the firm to hold their cash in a deposit style facility.