Keeping Your Records Secure with StockTreasury
Recently, Harvard Business Services, Inc. (HBS) published a blog that addressed corporate record keeping and the traditional Stock Transfer Ledger. In this blog post, we focus on a new and increasingly prevelent method of corporate record keeping—digital ledger technology, also known as blockchain technology.
When you form a Delaware Corporation, the old school way to keep track of your corporation’s issued shares is within a Stock Transfer Ledger and sometimes, stock certificates are issued. It’s critically important to maintain an accurate stock transfer ledger so that there are no errors in ownership, and so that the company does not violate corporate law.
While clients sometimes prefer a paper trail, information listed within a Stock Transfer Ledger can easily be edited or manipulated improperly which can cause discrepancies as to who owns shares within a corporation. Owners of a business may disagree as to who owns shares. Employees can assert that a shareholder issued them shares of stock. Digital ledger technology is approved by the State of Delaware, and can prevent discrepencies like these.
We inform our clients that Delaware does allow for corporations to keep their corporate records internally using digital ledger technology or blockchain technology. In other words, corporate transactions can be recorded digitally worldwide. As blockchain becomes more prevalent, more and more companies are moving to blockchain technology to maintain their corporate records.
At HBS, we have made it a priority to respond to the increased interest in digital ledger technology, and the result is a brand new platform, available to our clients called StockTreasury. This platform makes it easy for clients to keep record of their issued stock and stock transfers. It helps clients protect against fraudulent ownership claims and is easy and secure, using industry-grade blockchain technology that makes records immutable. Click Here to access another helpful link regarding the platform. With StockTreasury you can:
- Set up your digital stock ledger
- Issue shares
- Perform real time transfers
- Allow shareholders 24/7 access to their account on any device
You have access to your entire history of stock transactions and the records cannot be manipulated. The program eliminates the need for paper stock certificates and provides your shareholders with exact details of their ownership within the company.
Other important features of StockTreasury include: the ability to track multiple classes of stock for each company, a user-controlled login authentication, real time updates when securities are issued or traded and highly secure military-grade KSI blockchain to protect your data. Clients may ask, if shareholders have access to this program, who can issue the shares? With StockTreasury, only the administrator of the account can issue stock for the company eliminating those concerns.
In Delaware, the state requires that the Certificate of Incorporation that is filed with the Delaware Secretary of State includes the name of the entity, the name and address of the Registered Agent and the total number of authorized shares and the par value of the shares. While, many times, clients will contact HBS to inform us that they have issued shares to shareholders, it’s important to note that the issuing of the shares is done internally within the company. Delaware does not require disclosure of these details and neither does the Registered Agent. Even if your company signs up for StockTreasury, the actual issuing of the shares is still handled internally within your company.
Note: The article above is the review of the author, Justin Damiani, a Senior Contributor to our Blog and a highly respected member of our Client Services Team. All opinions expressed are his exclusively. Harvard Business Services, Inc. is not connected in any way with Stock Treasury and our reporting should not be considered as an endorsement. We bring this unique SaaS platform to our readers' attention, after a review process, because it has been very successful for many of our clients.
*Disclaimer*: Harvard Business Services, Inc. is neither a law firm nor an accounting firm and, even in cases where the author is an attorney, or a tax professional, nothing in this article constitutes legal or tax advice. This article provides general commentary on, and analysis of, the subject addressed. We strongly advise that you consult an attorney or tax professional to receive legal or tax guidance tailored to your specific circumstances. Any action taken or not taken based on this article is at your own risk. If an article cites or provides a link to third-party sources or websites, Harvard Business Services, Inc. is not responsible for and makes no representations regarding such source’s content or accuracy. Opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Harvard Business Services, Inc.