Glossary page
A glossary of abbreviations commonly used in day-to-day operations of registrars.
CREST is the UK-based central securities depository that holds UK equities and UK gilts, as well as other international securities.
Euroclear UK & Ireland is the Central Securities Depository (CSD) of the United Kingdom, Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Our CREST system provides advanced, Straight-Through Processing (STP) settlement and related services for a wide range of corporate and government securities.
A Central Securities Depository is a specialist financial organization holding securities such as shares either in certificated or uncertificated (dematerialised) form so that ownership can be easily transferred through a book entry rather than the transfer of physical certificates.
An ETF, or exchange traded fund, is a marketable security that tracks an index, a commodity, bonds, or a basket of assets like an index fund. Unlike mutual funds, an ETF trades like a common stock on a stock exchange.
A program used in the United Kingdom to make it easier for smaller, riskier companies to raise capital by giving their investors tax relief as an incentive to invest in those companies’ shares.
A code that uniquely identifies a specific security. The organisation that allocates ISINs in any particular country is known as the National Numbering Agency (NNA).
A code that uniquely identifies legal entities participating in any financial transaction, such as an issuer of securities.
Venture Capital Trust. A type of publicly listed closed-end fund found in the United Kingdom. A venture capital trust is designed as a way for individual investors to gain access to venture capital investments via the capital markets.
Annual General Meeting. A mandatory, public, yearly, gathering of a publicly traded company. At the annual general meeting, the directors deliver the company’s annual report, which contains information for shareholders about its past performance and future strategy.
Extraordinary General Meeting A meeting other than the annual general meeting between a company and its shareholders. An EGM is usually called on short notice to deal with an urgent matter.
Initial Public Offering. An IPO is the first sale of stock by a company to the public. A company can raise money by issuing either debt or equity. If the company has never issued equity to the public, it’s known as an IPO.