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.
Thinking about other ways to avoid brokers being able to unDRS I found that one may also just change account address details:
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