Corporate action notifications

When a corporate action takes place for a company you own shares in, we will communicate the details to you through a corporate action notification. 

A corporate action notification contains a summary of the terms of the corporate action taking place. 

It also advises you of any elections which you can make. 

When you make an election, you choose what outcome you will receive from the corporate action. For example, you may have the option to purchase or sell shares. 

Before making your election, please make sure you check the corporate action notification carefully. Different types of corporate action require different types of responses. For example, you may need to enter the number of shares you wish to purchase. Alternatively, you may simply need to choose a particular option. Some may allow you to split your election between multiple options.

Depending on your preferences, we will either send you an email explaining that there is a corporate action notification ready to view online or send your corporate action notification through the post. 

You can view your corporate action notifications online by: 

• Logging into your account and selecting Account > Document history from the menu. 
• Select corporate action notifications from the Document Type menu. 
• Click to View or Download. 

Please note

You won't always get a corporate action notification immediately after a corporate action is announced to the market.

There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, we do not normally communicate a corporate action until we know which customers are eligible to participate in the event. Secondly, while the terms of the corporate action may be available immediately, we have to do checks in order to determine exactly how the event is being processed in the market.

If you hear about a corporate action occurring on shares you hold, you may wish to do your own research. Information is usually available on the investors section of the relevant company website.

Preferences for receiving corporate action notifications

If you have online communication preferences, we will send you an email notifying you that you can view your corporate action notification online. 

If you have postal preferences, we will post your corporate action notification to the address you have registered with us. 

You can change your preferences by calling us. 

As a number of corporate actions involve short deadlines, we advise customers to opt for online communications.