You Don't Own Your Stocks (And Here Is Why)
Philipp 13:09 Episode 2 of How Money Really Moves
You Don't Own Your Stocks (And Here Is Why)
Street-name registration, custodians, and the chain between you and the share you think you hold. What beneficial ownership actually means.
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You Don't Own Your Stocks — Not on Paper, Anyway
Almost every US share held through a broker is registered on the issuer's books not in your name but in the name of Cede & Co., a nominee of the Depository Trust Company. You are the beneficial owner: economically everything is yours, but legally you hold a claim against your broker rather than a direct claim on the company. This is not a scandal — it is the deliberate fix for the 1960s paperwork crisis. It becomes visible three times: when a broker restricts trading, when you miss a dividend by one day, and when unsettled cash triggers a good faith violation.
Full article, with the sources and the numbers →
