Negotiable instruments, such as bearer securities, are
transferable by delivery.
A gift of shares which are not bearer is not complete until
the transfers have been executed and handed to the donee together
with the share certificates (Re Rose [1952] Ch 499). If the donor
is in a position to prevent registration in the company’s
books the gift is not complete until registration has been
effected. Normally it may be assumed that the date of delivery of
transfer documents and share certificates is the effective date for
transferring the beneficial ownership of shares, but even this has
been thrown into doubt following the Court of Appeal’s
decision in Pennington v Waine [2002] EWCA Civ 227. All cases of
doubt should be referred to Technical Group (TG).
In Scotland a gift of shares is not normally complete until
registration in the books of the company. Refer any question about
the date of gift to TG if the point is material.
Dispositions of other choses in action/incorporeal moveables
(Scotland), such as insurance policies and copyrights, will be
complete when there has been either a declaration of trust (in
England) or a transfer or an assignment/assignation as required by
the particular subject matter of the gift.
In Scotland, where a person takes their own property in their
own name as trustee for another, or purchases property from their
own funds and takes it in their own name as trustee for another,
this does not complete the trust or the gift without delivery or
the equivalent of a delivery. Refer any question about the date of
the gift to TG if the point is material.
In Scotland, as regards policies, the assignation must be
followed by intimation to the Insurance Company.
