TRANSFER AND TRANSMISSION OF SHARES 73
the unsold portion of shares on all certificates lodged upon
certification of transfers is a waste of time, and they therefore
do not make out any certificate in respect of the balance
unless and until a notice to this effect is received, such balances
remaining on the cancelled certificate retained in the office
pending delivery of further transfers or an application for a
balance certificate. If this procedure is followed, no further
transfers in respect of the unappropriated balances must be
certified or accepted for registration, nor must any balance
certificates be issued without the surrender of the balance
receipt. There are many companies, however, who contend
that a balance certificate should be made out in respect of
every balance represented by unsold shares on certificates
lodged with transfers for certification, as, in that way, it is
easier to trace the whole of a particular shareholding should
occasion arise, and, where this method is adopted, such a
balance certificate is made out even when it is known that
further transfers will be presented for certification or registra-
tion in respect of those particular shares. On the further
transfer being presented, the balance certificate is immediately
cancelled, even though it may not have been before the
Board for sealing. Where the former practice is adopted,
the balance receipt should contain an intimation to the effect
that no definitive certificate will be made out in respect of
the balance ‘unless a request for the same is made. Where
the latter practice is followed, the balance receipt given should
contain an intimation as to when the balance certificate
will be ready for delivery.

It will be seen from the foregoing that, notwithstanding
the decisions of the Courts as to the legal effect of certification
on transfers, the practice is one which requires to be carried
out with the very greatest care. The clerk responsible for
the work should be careful to see that the transferor’s name
is correctly stated, that he has signed the transfer, that the
name of the transferee is inserted, that no more shares are
being transferred than are comprised in the certificate,
that the distinctive numbers are correctly stated on the
transfer, and that the company’s name is correctly stated,
and, by reference to the register of members or card index,
that no notice of distringas has been lodged. It occasionally
happens that an old address, copied from the share certificate,
is inserted in the transfer, and it is therefore necessary to
refer to the register or card index to check the address of a
transferor so that the notice to him (if such is sent on certifica-
tion) may be sent to the correct address. In the cases where
an outside audit of the transfers is conducted it is the usual