DEMAT’s implementation plan to withdraw paper share certificates in 2027 is a key step in the UK government’s programme to digitise share ownership.

By Mark Austin CBE, Anna Ngo, and Johannes Poon

Link to Key Points: Key Points:

  • From late 2027 onwards, paper share certificates will cease to be evidence of ownership of shares in publicly traded UK companies.
  • Investors who already hold through intermediary nominees or brokers will be unaffected by the withdrawal of certificates. In addition, certificated shareholders will not need to take any action at this stage and their shareholder rights will be unaffected. Evidence of their ownership of a share will be through them being included on a company’s digital shareholder register rather than by holding a paper share certificate.
  • The indicative go-live date for the withdrawal of paper share certificates is late 2027 — the precise date will be confirmed in the coming weeks.
  • Step 1 is a temporary “pit stop”. The end-state is all shareholders holding through a fully intermediated model, with improvements to the intermediated chain having been made first. The transition of all shareholders to the fully intermediated model is start by the end of this Parliament in 2029. DEMAT’s second report, on steps 2 and 3, is expected in summer 2027.

On 14 July 2026, the Dematerialisation Market Action Taskforce (DEMAT), chaired by Mark Austin CBE and established by HM Treasury in October 2025, published its first report.

The report sets out a comprehensive implementation plan for the withdrawal of paper share certificates as evidence of ownership of shares in publicly traded UK companies by the end of 2027. It is the first step in the UK’s three-step approach to digitising share ownership. DEMAT intends to publish a second report next year that will address steps two and three, addressing the move to all shareholders holding shares through the intermediated securities chain that will start by the end of this Parliament in 2029.

This Client Alert provides an overview of Steps 1–3, outlines the key measures of Step 1, and analyses the impact on issuers and shareholders.