Pressure on private investors to move into pooled nominee accounts has intensified with the introduction of hefty new charges at broker Charles Stanley (CAY) for clients who trade using personal Crest accounts, and who hold paper certificates. The new charges add hundreds of pounds a year to dealing costs for investors who choose not to use the company's pooled nominee account.
Charles Stanley advisory clients who trade using a sponsored personal Crest account now face an annual Crest bill of £240 plus an annual account charge of £480 in addition to transaction charges. Execution only clients with a Crest account will be charged £240 a year plus a £180 account charge. The previous charge for a Crest membership was £24 with no annual account fee.
Certificated charges have risen steeply too with a new annual charge of £480, a £50 per transaction charge and increased dealing fee per trade of £15. That's on top of a dealing commission of 1.85 per cent. One IC reader complained: "I hold my shares via certificates and deal with all the dividends myself so an annual service charge of £480 is a charge for doing absolutely nothing."