How to Terminate enrollment in DirectStock

What is the distinction between an issuer ledger and a stockholder list?
An issuer ledger is a live record of all credits and debits of named shareholders. It is updated and maintained in real time, a responsibility which falls to Transfer Agents and is regulated by the SEC.

 

The stock list is derived from an issuer ledger. It reflects a single moment in time like a snapshot, and is taken on the record date for the annual general meeting. It is used as a reference to determine who has voting rights, and how many shares they are voting for. 

How is the stock list accessed?

The process can vary slightly by state but in each of them an investor must submit a request in writing to the company secretary, including a reason for examining the list. The issuing company’s legal team will review and can choose to approve any requests. 

 

A company can approve a request they consider "germane to the AGM", which means it should be relevant to the meeting. They can also choose to approve even if they do not consider it relevant. The legal team of the issuing company will then reach out with confirmation and set up an appointment.

 

GameStop is incorporated in Delaware and follows Delaware state law: 

 

What data is on the stock list?

The stock list will provide information on each record holder, including their name / address / # of shares held on the record date / type of shares held on the record date. For GME’s 2024 AGM, the record date was 19th April 2024. 

 

The stock list is not a record of ownership, but instead a record of voting rights. This key distinction is important to remember. There will always be exactly as many total shares on the stock list as there are issued shares of the company. Shares held through Computershare’s nominee will still appear under the name of the investor due to their being named in a subclass. Cede and Co is listed as the largest voting rights holder and does not maintain investor names in a subclass.

 

Investors with multiple Investor Center accounts appeared as multiple rows on the shareholder list in 2023.

 

Why review the stock list?

Reviewing the stock list allows an opportunity to share that aggregate data on shareholder distribution with the community. At the moment, there is no other reliable way to get detailed granular data like:

• Average account size at Computershare.

• Number of X share accounts vs XX, XXX, XXXX etc.

• Distribution of DRS designated shares and DirectStock Plan designated shares.

• Per-country metrics for each of the above.

• For GME, a 5th data point of registered share totals to add to the 4 provided by GME already.

 

How is that data accessed and organized?

There are slight variations in how the stock list data is organized based on the state of incorporation. In GameStop's case, shareholders reviewing the list were placed under supervision in a room with an Microsoft excel file open for 2 hours each, and were able to sort and organize in order to collect data. 

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Why trust that the data shared from the stock list is accurate?

The data shared by stock list viewers is not independently verifiable by regular investors without them also reviewing the stock list. In 2023 supplemental validation was achieved through communications with both public figures in the community such as Peruvian Bull, Dave Lauer and Kevin Malone and private individuals who shared their names.