| Crest is an electronic system of settlement for the equities market in the UK and Ireland which was set up in 1996 to replace the Stock Exchange's Talisman system. For the largest companies on the London and Irish markets, Crest matches trades against payments and tells the company's registrars what names to add to the share register and which ones to delete. It did away with the need for the transfer of paper certificates. To avoid holding share certificates, shares can be registered in Crest in the name of a nominee service offered by a broker. Many online brokers will only deal with clients who are willing to adopt the nominee system. It is possible to become a personal member of Crest which enables direct dealing with Crest without having to use a nominee account.
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