How to Transfer Shares [Comprehensive Guide]

This article is a general overview and so if professional advice is needed, please speak with an accountant or business advisor.

Before transferring any shares, you may wish to seek professional advice.

Why would I need to Transfer Shares?

There are many reasons why a company will need to transfer shares, for example:

• The retirement or death of a shareholder
• Recouping investment
• Changing the business structure
• The shareholder(s) is leaving the business

The transfer of shares procedure

1. All existing members are to agree to the share transfer
2. Fill out a stock transfer J30 or J10 form
   1. Form J30 is used when shares being transferred are fully paid
   2. Form J10 is used when shares being transferred are partly paid or unpaid
3. The person transferring the shares is to sign the J30 form. When filing the J10 form, both the person signing over the shares and the person receiving the shares, are to sign
4. If required, a copy of the form must be stamped and stamp duty must be paid to HMRC (if transferring more than £1,000 worth of shares)
5. Create a board resolution, and issue new certificate(s)
6. You must then report the changes to Companies House within 21 days
7. The transfer needs to be confirmed at Companies House via the confirmation statement

Company Formation MadeSimple can help with completing a Transfer of Shares on your behalf. We'll supply and prepare all the relevant documents and send you the documents to sign and keep. 
Once completed, you will need to update Companies House with this information via a confirmation statement, and this will need to be reported to Companies House within 21 days.

Alternatively, you can fill out either the J10 or J30 form yourself (forms can be found online) or hire an accountant.

What happens if I transfer "all" shares to a new shareholder?

If you transfer shares from one person/ company to another then you are essentially removing the shareholder from the company as they are left with no shares.

I've completed a transfer of shares and now need the new share certificates. Where can I find them?

If you have completed a transfer of shares or have updated shareholdings in any way, new share certificates should be pre-populated on your account with us. 

Go to My Companies (login required), scroll down until you reach the "Shareholders" section and click "Download". Alternatively, you can download a share certificate template via the "Statutory Forms" section which can be accessed via your dashboard. 

My online portal is not showing the new shareholder details. What is wrong?

If you've completed a transfer of shares, and filed the confirmation statement to Companies House, the information normally updates with our system intermittently. You can click on the 'Sync Data with Companies House' button which is allocated within your company details page (and clicking on the appropriate company name). This will ensure the information Companies House have is updated with our system.