Forgive me for *ever* doubting you... Perry Metzger says,

Actually, even in the case of securities largely settled by book entry, DTC still holds physical certificates. That is not, however, the point.

I know It's Not the Point, but I got curious anyway ;-). After all, I haven't been near a brokerage cage in 10 years (NIDS was big stuff back then), and I thought maybe it's time to learn how the world really works these days... So I called DTC, the Depository Trust Corporation, on Water St. in Manhattan, the Mother of all Securities Clearinghouses. After about five transfers, I talked to a very nice lady in underwriting. She said they really *do* have bales of securities in a vault, and that they have a program called FAST, where securities are stored in banks also. However, she said that a growing number of securities are issued book entry only. Issues of up to $150 million can be issued on a *single* certificate. That certificate is held just like the other securities issues, in a vault. She said that like par value, physical delivery is becoming more and more obsolete. That makes sense. Once a certificate is put into the vault at DTC, it usually never leaves. It might as well not be there at all. Changes in ownership are reflected by offseting book entries. Ah, the wonders of double-entry bookeeping. Oddly enough, an e$ certification scheme reverses that paradigm. The book entries disapear, the certificates proliferate, and the clearinghouse becomes a referee, "blessing" the trade. Cheers, Bob ----------------- Robert Hettinga (rah@shipwright.com) "There is no difference between someone Shipwright Development Corporation who eats too little and sees Heaven and 44 Farquhar Street someone who drinks too much and sees Boston, MA 02331 USA snakes." -- Bertrand Russell (617) 323-7923