Transfers of Shares and Debentures

The Companies Acts in Antigua, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Montserrat, St Lucia, St Vincent and Trinidad and Tobago contain a Division headed ‘Transfer of Shares and Debentures’. ¹ The provisions in this Division are intended to provide a code to regulate the transfer of shares and debentures of a company. Yet, important provisions on the right to transfer shares and the rectification of the share register are not found within this Division but in other parts of the Acts. Despite this, the provisions in this Division are of critical importance in determining the relationship between the company and holders of shares and debentures who are not existing shareholders or debenture-holders. In Anguilla, the Bahamas, Belize, Jamaica and St Christopher/Nevis, this relationship is determined by construing the articles which normally contain provisions on the transfer of shares and the debenture document which regulate the transfer of debentures.