Sharewatch change to ODL Securities

R

RedDevil

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Sharewatch have entered into an agreement with ODL Securities Ltd to serve their execution needs and services through Direct Sharedeal will cease on 12th August 2010.

This means that private clients are required to move to ODL Securities or it will cost them.

Does anyone have any views on this
 
I'm glad that there is a escape route away from Sharewatch and can't wait to get away from them. I've no idea who ODL securities are but they couldn't be much worse than Sharewatch
 
Plenty of bad comment on ODL on the Web? Google it and do your own research.
 
The email which they issued had all of the characteristics of an elaborate scam. Financial institutions never email to ask you to fill in your details. So I had almost binned it before checking whether it was genuine. I wonder how many people did bin it.

By the way, 8till8, you are not getting away from Sharewatch under this arrangement. It is just a change of service provider for the Sharewatch service.
 
The default option is "Transfer to ODL GROUP LIMITED to be held in the appropriate ODL GROUP LIMITED Account". Does this mean that my holdings will no longer be in CREST. If so is there any broker who still provides CREST accounts?
 
My understanding is that the service provided through ODL should be virtually identical to that currently provided through Direct Sharedeal ... and that the Crest arrangements would transfer seamlessly to the new arrangement. Am I right???????
 
Gulliver...no i am afraid you are wrong. Your shares will no longer be held in crest but in odl's nominee account.

I moved as i have no choice really other than spend a fortune moving my companies. I imagine odls platform and customer service will be way above direct sharedeals who were poor.

I will miss receiving the company accounts and ability to vote my proxies. Will just have to read the accounts on-line!
 
OnDeBanks said:
The default option is "Transfer to ODL GROUP LIMITED to be held in the appropriate ODL GROUP LIMITED Account". Does this mean that my holdings will no longer be in CREST. If so is there any broker who still provides CREST accounts?
Click to expand...

This is my concern too. When Goodbody's had their downgrade away from CREST a few years ago the reason I chose ShareWatch was because of CREST. Given the turmoil of the last three years (we're nearly upon the Northern Rocked anniversary, aren't we) and the uncertainty of the future, I'd trust shares held in CREST. Or maybe it's time to go back to paper certs?
 
i got an email a week ago from Sharewatch. Just like Gulliver, I thought it was a scam. I'm so busy at work, I have'nt time to ring them. Ringing them would be my last option,as their service was/is absolutely brutal. I have'nt traded with them since early last year. Can anyone throw any more light on the whole subject.
 
Draigean said:
This is my concern too. When Goodbody's had their downgrade away from CREST a few years ago the reason I chose ShareWatch was because of CREST. Given the turmoil of the last three years (we're nearly upon the Northern Rocked anniversary, aren't we) and the uncertainty of the future, I'd trust shares held in CREST. Or maybe it's time to go back to paper certs?
Click to expand...

Draigean, maybe it is time to go back to share certs. I much prefer the security of my name listed on the share register.

Does anybody remember the fiasco a few years back with the Cork broker who went bust. It took years to sort out the mess afterwards with their nominee account.
 
Folks,

Like many of you on here I have been two bloody busy to look into this in some detail until this evening. Having dealt with Sharewatch for the last two years I also share many of the concerns raised, though it must also be said that their online trading platform improved greatly around August last year.

My main concern is also the possible loss of CREST which was the primary reason I went to S'watch in the first place. I am putting down a number of questions to them overnight and will advise when (if !) I get a response.

I have been tempted to set up another account with someone like TD Waterhouse and compare the two platforms for a number of months but apart from doubling my admin costs, I really don't have the time. Anyone here move from S'watch to another platform and can give a comparison ?

One other thing is the new platform, which I downloaded on a trial basis fro ODL. "Information Overload" is my first impression and I think I would be too afraid to trade on it for fear I would crash something !
 
Hmmm, this has me all so confused!!

Few years ago I bought shares (€2000.00) with Sharewatch in AIB and BOI using their €50 Small Trade Service.
Few days later got some certs from AIB and BOI in the post.
Registered with Computershare to keep track of these and deal with correspondence.

Pretty sure I never actually opened an account with Sharewatch (no need to with their €50 Small Trade Service).

I am right in presuming this change to ODL does not affect me?
If I want to sell my shares I then sign up with ODL / Computershare Investor Services or another broker to get them sold. Correct?
 
Draigean said:
This is my concern too. When Goodbody's had their downgrade away from CREST a few years ago the reason I chose ShareWatch was because of CREST. Given the turmoil of the last three years (we're nearly upon the Northern Rocked anniversary, aren't we) and the uncertainty of the future, I'd trust shares held in CREST. Or maybe it's time to go back to paper certs?
Click to expand...

I was in exactly the same boat. When Goodbodys moved away from CREST I moved to Sharewatch. It was a good decision, especially when AIB were in trouble and could have dragged Goodbodys down with them. The last thing I want is a receiver coming in and selling my holdings to pay the broker's debts as in the Morroughs case.

In a separate but related correspondence I filled in the feedback form on the Sharewatch site to answer a question about SCRIP dividends. One of the companies I have shares in are changing from a DRIP scheme to a SCRIP scheme and they have said "CREST participants cannot be automatically transferred into the Scrip Dividend Scheme and any CREST participants should contact their CREST sponsor who will be able to take the appropriate action on their behalf." I wanted Sharewatch to do this for me. I got the following reply from someone at ODL (I haven't even decided if I'm moving to them):
"Unfortuantely we do not offer SCRIP dividends. Your shares are held in a nominee account at CREST but we are not a sponsored crest member."

Following this I asked them who my CREST sponsor is and I got the following:
"All shares are held in a nominee account at CREST under ODL Securities name. Client protection is exactly the same but the system is more efficient and leads to cheaper commissions charged."

I'm even more confused.

I had a look at the Euroclear website and found the following:
Private individuals have two choices if they wish to take advantage of our secure, efficient and low-cost settlement services:

* join the thousands of individuals who have become personal members. Personal membership allows residents of the European Economic Area to hold securities in the Euroclear UK & Ireland system while retaining full legal title. You can attend and vote at AGMs, and receive corporate information directly from the issuing company.

* transfer their securities into a stockbroker's or a bank's nominee. The nominee will hold the securities in the Euroclear UK & Ireland system and will be their legal owner. Most nominees offer additional portfolio management and advisory services.
 
OnDeBanks said:
* join the thousands of individuals who have become personal members. Personal membership allows residents of the European Economic Area to hold securities in the Euroclear UK & Ireland system while retaining full legal title. You can attend and vote at AGMs, and receive corporate information directly from the issuing company.
Click to expand...

I take it that is the present situation with sharewatch members? We are personal members only sponsored by Sharewatch (directsharedeal)??
 
smiley said:
I take it that is the present situation with sharewatch members? We are personal members only sponsored by Sharewatch (directsharedeal)??
Click to expand...

As far as I know yes. Direct Share Deal are listed on the Euroclear website as someone who offer CREST personal membership (mind you so are Goodbodys).
 
I got a further reply from ODL.
As an equities account your account is segregated. This means that all holdings in the account (cash and equity) form no part of ODL's Balance sheet or trading equity.

We hold cash balances with either National Westminster Bank in London, or with Wachovia Bank in the US. Both are again held in segregated accounts. Furthermore, the Investors compensation scheme covers 100% of the first £50,000 held per person, per firm.

Your shares are held in ODL Nominees Ltd nominee account. You remain the beneficial owner. The Nominee account is a custody account which guarantees the assets held there in.

I hope that this letter clarifies the nature of the security of you holdings and give you comfort.
 
I have talked to Sharewatch having seen the previous posts. I complained about the lack of clarity in their letters. There is no mention of the word "Crest" or the word "nominee" in the letters. It was therefore, I think, reasonable for me to assume that there was no change in relation to the service under these headings. I should have been on guard when they said that they would maintain "the majority of the existing features of your Sharewatch accounts".

Alas, as mentioned by many AAMers, the ODL arrangement involves transferring my shares into a nominee company

For me, the primary feature of shareholding is to be able to hold shares in my own right, to have them recorded in the register of the company, to be able to attend meetings and express my view, to have the right to receive information from the company, to have the right to have my vote recorded at an AGM or EGM. No assurances about segregation of accounts, beneficial ownership or custody accounts make any difference if they come between me and the complete and outright ownership of my shares.

I do not know of any company now providing a full Crest service and targetted at serving investors in Ireland (I am aware that the actual sharewatch service was in fact coming out of Scotland), and I am reluctant to go to a UK-based stockbroker with no Irish representation. Accordingly, I have reluctantly gone for option 3, and will use share certs in future.

By the way, Sharewatch was prepared to negotiate, and has reduced (considerably) the charge stated as €30 per line for this transfer.
 
Not sure what is going on here since I have received no notification of this change at all. It is only by chance that I saw this on askaboutmoney. Am I correct in my understanding that I now have 4 working days!!! to do something by their deadline.

I really want my shares to stay in CREST - anyone know what I can do.

Also at this stage there is no way I can get another broker / online platform etc set up - what are these guys playing at???

Has everyone except me who has commented on this threadd been notified directly about this change?
 
Odl told me today they 'dont do' dividend re-investment plans. I have about 10 mof these on the go and now ill have no alternative but to accept a cash dividend.

The funding mechanism of your account also changes...with perhaps extra charges for transferring money?

None of this was mentioned in those letters. Very poor really.
 
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