I will start by saying that I’m a special person and as my shares are also special 😎, they deserve special treatment and protection 😜
After reading, hearing about brokers being able to unDRS shares and reading posts like: comments/y6hrnv/plan_for_the_worst_hope_for_the_best_update/
I decided that I want to explore new ways to protect my investment and shares in Gamestop.
After reading and analyzing different ways that I can do this, I have decided to follow the following path: Buy one share using GiveAShare.com and creating a brand-new account (that brokers have no info on), activate the new account . Keep the two accounts, buy and DRS into the (first) old account. When I decide, transfer all the GME shares from the old account into the new account.
#For anyone that is interested in the steps that I have taken, here is my journey:
1. Bought ONE Share on GiveAShare.com ([GUIDE](https://www.drsgme.org/buy-direct-registered-shares-from-computershare-outside-the-us))
2. When I received an email with the title: GiveAshare Order XXXXXXXX GameStop Stock Registered, I
called Computershare. Because you I bought less than 10 shares, Computershare gave me the account number over the phone after answering all security questions. (LINK here)
3. I was told to wait another 24 hours so that the account can be activated.
4. Registered the new account on Computershare website Investor website: https://www-us.computershare.com/Investor/ .
*BONUS for EUROPE: Called again after successfully activated my account to have the PIN sent from UK – his saved some delivery time
- After having activated the account with the pin number I have checked also:
- comments/tbkil1/those_with_2_computershare_accounts_there_is_an/ (Only possible for US apes)
- comments/12s6pcf/these_are_the_steps_in_pictures_that_i_took_to/
- comments/ylcy4p/multiple_computershare_accounts/
#Some important things I learned from this experience:
When I DRSed from broker I had web-username-account1 to access Computershare website and gme-drs-account1 where I had the GME shares (in book directly).
When I DRSed from giveashare.com I had web-username-account2 to access Computershare website and gme-drs-account2 where I had the GME share (in book directly).
First thing I did in the web-username-account2 was to fill in the online W8-BEN form (Guide W8-BEN). I did this step before filling in bank details. If not, the system would consider me a US citizen.
#After filling in the online W8-BEN form the following things happened:
- my profile became 100 % completed in web-username-account2
2. the system at Computershare automatically moved the gme-drs-account1 into the web-username-account2.
This gave me the impression that the merge of shares has been done automatically but in reality, if I click in “Portfolio” on “View Details” there would be in fact the gme-drs-account1 and gme-drs- account2, each with its own number of GME shares.
3. when trying to access the web-username-account1 I would get an error message and I would not able to access this
account. This is not because the account was deleted but because the web-username-account1 is now empty.
- when I DRSed additional GME shares from the same initial broker, these shares will now be found in web-username-account2 -> gme-drs-account1. This, for me, means that the broker still has a direct connection with my shares.
##Very important: As I am not a US citizen, the transfer of shares can be done only if the two accounts with GME shares are 100 % identical.
##What were the steps that I did to transfer shares from gme-drs-account1 to gme-drs-account2:
- went on the main page of Computershare in my Help section
2. here, in the bottom right, I selected “Get started” under “Contact Us”
3. in the field “Send an online inquiry”, “Category” I choose; “Transfer
Inquiry”
4. “Registered holder name”: autocompleted with my name
5. I selected “Contact name same as registered holder name”
6. in the “Ticker symbol or company name”: I choose “GME - GAMESTOP CORP”
7. in the “Account number”: I put my gme-drs-account2
8. in the “Inquiry details” I wrote: I have two identical accounts at
Computershare, gme-drs-account1 with X number of GME shares and gme-drs-account2 with X number of GME shares. I want to transfer all my GME shares from gme-drs-account1 to gme-drs-account2. Thank you
9. in 5 business days the transfer has been done. In gme-drs-account2 I
had all my GME shares and gme-drs-account1 disappeared.
#Very very very important: Once the transfer from the gme-drs-account1 to gme-drs-account2 account have been done, now Computershare has only one gme-drs-account (gme-drs-account2) for me. When I DRSed additional GME shares from the same initial broker, these shares will now be found in the merged gme-drs-account2 and now the broker has AGAIN access to my gme-drs-account with all the shares in it.
Me personally I would not join the two accounts if I will still want to DRS from a broker and would only do this when I want to move all the shares in the DRS account unknow by broker(s).
If the accounts are NOT 100 % identical: A transfer can be done using the wizard on this link: https://www-us.computershare.com/TransferWizard/. As far as I understood the person has to fill in the form and apply a medallion stamp. (example: https://www.iwcprobateservices.co.uk/overseas-probate-medallion-guarantee/)
- the above form is also needed when the person in not a US citizen and
wants to transfer to another person.
- the above above is also needed when the transfer is between two
different persons.
If there are any mistakes or updates, please share, I will update this post.
Thanks for this post, Quick! And welcome to lemmy!
Can you say more about #4? “This, for me, means the broker still has a direct connection with my shares.”
I’m strongly considering taking this step but I want to be as clear as possible on what fuckery, if any, remains.
There are numerous #4s… ;/ which one do you mean?
The one that includes the quoted text, silly
After I transferred the shares from the old account into the new account, my old account (number) has disappeared. All my shares were in the new account. Then I was interested what would happen when I would DRS again (from the same old initial broker): would the shares land in the old or new account ? After I DRSed the shares, I found them into the new account (the one created by GiveAShare). I don’t know for sure, but I feel that this could mean that the broker could have a direct connection to my new account. I’m still exploring as there are a lot of things to try 😁
Thanks for this.
What if you had left one share in the old account when transferring? Was that even an option?
I encountered a lot of problems on my way to transfer from one account to another. At one moment I considered it impossible as the medallion stamp is very expensive / impossible to obtain outside US. So when I tried to transferred the shares I forgot to leave one / some in the old account. I will try this in the future
Word! Keep us posted here if you remember! 🙏
Thank you for this information, I looked into this briefly a few months ago and thought the medallion thing was always needed so glad to hear that it isn’t. Can you clarify what ‘NOT 100% identical’ means, or specifically how your two CS accounts were 100% identical but also different?
The first name, last name and address must be identical. If your middle name is Steve and first account has First name Steve last name and second account has First name S. last name then you cannot transfer and you would need a medallion stamp. Same goes for address. Feel free to try (as I didn’t have tried all the variants) and I will update the post with other experiences
Thinking about other ways to avoid brokers being able to unDRS I found that one may also just change account address details:
“So basically, brokers aren’t supposed to do this, but can, and if they do, there’s really nothing stopping them since there’s no check first to see if there was permission from the account holder. […] In the meantime, as suggested by the reps, if possible, change some account info so it doesn’t match what your broker has on file, like changing Street to St or adding a middle initial.” (https://www.reddit.com/r/computershare/comments/xfcpq3/comment/ioltp8n/)
Also on Twitter there is a discussion about “stop trades” and one of the things it would help with is brokers being able to unDRS. Either a new account or changing address details would do the trick also.
I know about changing the name or address. But it is not clear what the brokers can use to unDRS. If the key is the account number, then having a new account created with GiveAShare could avoid this situation. Maybe there are other ways to avoid this but I feel that it’s better solution for the moment, as there are so many things not clear
This is perfect for anyone who has given their Computershare account number to their broker.
Your Computershare account number is what gives the broker verification to remove your shares from the DRS and into your broker. Paul Conn refered to it as the key to your account.
It’s not your typical account number!
