THE EVOLUTION OF SECURITIES 25
certificates, but only in changing entries on the security register.
In respect to danger of theft or loss, inscribed securities are
undoubtedly the safest form known, since there is no certificate
to steal or mislay. Dividends are paid by mailing checks to
security holders.
Registered Securities.—Registered securities resemble
those which are inscribed, in that a register of holders is kept,
upon which the names of holders can be transferred when
changes in ownership occur. But, unlike inscribed issues, reg-
istered securities have certificates which may be and are deliver-
able in the stock market. Each registered certificate is made
out in the name of the same individual or concern which stands
on the register as the owner of the given securities, and thus
the registered certificate serves as documentary evidence that
the holder whose name it contains is also entered on the register
as at least nominal owner of the given bonds or shares.
Practically all American share securities are in registered
form; most American bonds are “to bearer,” although some of
them permit of conversion into registered bonds. In Great
Britain, almost all share issues are registered, although the
British Companies’ Act specifically provides for “share war-
rants” or bearer shares, and a few British companies have
issued them ; British bonds, however, are very largely registered
or inscribed. On the Continent, registered securities are much
less common than in the English-speaking countries; as a rule,
Continental securities are registered only when some liability
attaches to ownership (as in the case of part-paid shares) or
under other exceptional circumstances.
The methods of paying dividends or interest on registered
securities vary according to the banking practices of different
countries. In most English-speaking countries (including the
United States and the United Kingdom) the public is thor-
oughly familiar with deposit and checking accounts, and in
consequence money checks can be mailed to the holders of
registered securities as dividend or interest payments become
