The bearer share, which has no name of the owner, will be abolished on July 1 The measure is part of the fight against tax evaders, money launderers and terrorists. Because such shares can be transferred anonymously and without obligation, they were popular with the underworld.
Trading in shares of companies without stock exchange listing will soon only be possible through a securities account with a bank or investment firm. That account is registered and therefore the owner is no longer anonymous, says Minister Sander Dekker (Legal Protection).
Companies must register the shares themselves from 1 July. If they do not do so, it will be “by operation of law” on January 1. Anyone who still has paper shares in house is advised to surrender them before 1 January 2021 to the company that issued them. Otherwise they fall back to the publisher.
The British, Germans, Luxembourgers and Belgians, among others, already preceded the Netherlands with the abolition of the bearer share.
