UK to End Paper Shares After 400 Years to Boost City’s Appeal

The UK will scrap paper stock certificates to cut costs for companies, as Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves seeks to fully digitize Britain’s capital markets in a bid to boost the competitiveness of the City.

The ending of paper shares, an idea long called for by many FTSE 100 companies because of the administrative cost of issuing physical certificates and maintaining separate paper-based share registers, is due to be announced by Reeves at her Mansion House speech on Tuesday, according to people familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity.