Dealing with the Polymetal delisting and moving holding to Kazakhstan

[Funn3r]

41 minutes ago, Castlevania said:

You can vote on the proposals

The proposals will go to a shareholder vote at a meeting on 30 May 2023. If you’d like to vote, please follow the steps below before 1pm on Wednesday 24 May 2023. 

• Log in online at www.hl.co.uk  

• Select ‘view shareholder meetings’ which you’ll find under the link to your secure messages

• Click the ‘give instruction’ link next to the relevant shareholder meeting(s) and follow the instructions.  

Does this work for anyone? I don't see any "view shareholder meetings" link.

[Castlevania]

4 minutes ago, Funn3r said:

Does this work for anyone? I don't see any "view shareholder meetings" link.

There is an option to vote at various AGM’s hidden away on the HL platform 

[Funn3r]

1 hour ago, Castlevania said:

There is an option to vote at various AGM’s hidden away on the HL platform 

Yes the bastards hid it well with misleading instructions on where to find it. Got it now thanks.

[Inoperational Bumblebee]

AJ Bell, just now:

Polymetal International plc has announced its intention to re-domicile from Jersey to the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) in Kazakhstan. A consequence of this will be the cancellation of its ordinary shares from trading on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

As a result of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russia has imposed sanctions against companies operating in certain areas, including Jersey. This has caused difficulty for the companys Russian operations, so they are looking to move to an area where they can avoid as many of these sanctions as possible.

If the re-domiciliation to Kazakhstan takes place, the company will not meet the criteria to be listed on the LSE.

As a result, the primary listing of Polymetal International PLC will be transferred from the London Stock Exchange (LSE) to the Astana International Exchange (AIX) in Kazakhstan. Consequently, the company will no longer be listed or traded on the LSE.

This is subject to shareholder approval at a general meeting due to be held on 30 May 2023.

If the proposal receives approval, it is expected that trading of Polymetal International shares on the LSE will be suspended on 17th July 2023. The anticipated last day of dealing is set to be 14 July 2023, subject to orderly market provisions, similar to other stocks.

As of now, your shares are held electronically through the UK Settlement System, CREST. However, following the redomiciliation and the discontinuation of Polymetal shares on the LSE, shares will be issued in certificated form. It's important to note that we are unable to support electronic shares held on the AIX.

At present, our position remains that we will continue to maintain custody of the certificated holding after the re-domiciliation takes place. The AIX is recognised by HMRC as a qualifying ISA market, so the shares will still remain eligible to be held in an ISA after the LSE delisting. The shares will also remain eligible to remain within a SIPP.

Prior to the redomicile taking effect, you have the following options:

· You may request to convert your holding to certificated form to be held directly in your own name - This request must be submitted by the 30th of June 2023.
· You may sell your shares prior to the trading suspension date - 14 July 2023.
· You may transfer your holding to another broker which supports trading on the AIX - This request must be submitted by the 30th of June 2023.
· You may retain your shares in your account and receive certificated holding under our nominee name that cannot be traded electronically.

Please note, if you hold your shares in a SIPP or Junior ISA, the option to withdraw your shares and have them converted into physical certificate registered directly in your own name is not available on these products.

By withdrawing the shares from your ISA or Lifetime ISA, you will lose the associated tax benefits for the shares value. For Lifetime ISAs you will also be subject to the governments 25% withdrawal charge.
We will only be able to complete the withdrawal if the stock remains active in crest, the UK settlement system.

If you would like to convert your Polymetal International plc shares into physical certificates, registered directly in your own name, please send a secure message by the deadline following the procedure below.
- Within the Subject field of the message, include: CORPORATE ACTION - Polymetal International plc - 9782539
- Ensure that you quote details of the corporate event and the number of shares you wish to convert.

All requests will be handled on a best endeavours basis.

Please note that you are under no obligation to convert your shares in this manner. If you dont decide to convert, we will continue to reflect your Polymetal shares on your portfolio, maintain a record of your holding on our books.

Certificated holdings are considered to be highly illiquid as electronic market making and settlement are unavailable. While AJ Bell will endeavour to offer you the ability to trade post certification, it must be noted that trading may not be possible. Where trading is possible it will incur additional fees including (but not limited to): re-registration fees, cross border fees, postal costs etc which will, in turn, be charged to the share holder and not covered by AJ Bell as Broker and Nominee.

To view the company circular in full, please copy and paste the below link into your web browser:
https://data.fca.org.uk/artefacts/NSM/Portal/NI-000074869/NI-000074869.pdf

Please copy and paste the below FAQ link into your web browser for more information on corporate actions:
https://www.ajbell.co.uk/sites/ajbell.co.uk/files/AJB_Corporate_action_FAQs.pdf

IMPORTANT NOTE - If you have any questions or queries regarding this event, please send us a secure message and ensure you quote the following in the Subject field: CORPORATE ACTION - Polymetal International plc - 9782539

Updated: 18/05/23

[Inoperational Bumblebee]

I might just leave mine in my AJBell ISA, and do nothing.
Sounds like I'll likely get the divs, and the tax benefits, unless I'm missing something?

[Foor]

12 hours ago, JimmyTheBruce said:

@AWW any chance you can paste the content of that message?  I've had the exact opposite response from Interactive Investor.  I wanted to just leave them in my SIPP until a means of doing anything becomes apparent, but II are saying they won't support this and will liquidate them if I don't sell.

Incidentally, for those looking to get certificates for shares held in an ISA or trading account, II say the certification fee is waived.

Would a delisting affect my ability to hold Polymetal shares in an ISA or SIPP? 

The AIX is recognised by HMRC as a qualifying ISA market, so the shares will still remain eligible to be held in an ISA after the LSE delisting. The shares will also remain eligible to remain within a SIPP. 

[wherebee]

14 hours ago, Inoperational Bumblebee said:

I might just leave mine in my AJBell ISA, and do nothing.
Sounds like I'll likely get the divs, and the tax benefits, unless I'm missing something?

You might not get the divvies, as the RUSSIAN sanctions means that POLY may not be able to deal with western brokers....

[belfastchild]

Just a heads up on voting via Ajbell. It has to be done by 10am today (Friday 19th)

[Heart's Ease]

15 hours ago, Inoperational Bumblebee said:

I might just leave mine in my AJBell ISA, and do nothing.
Sounds like I'll likely get the divs, and the tax benefits, unless I'm missing something?

Nice to see you @Inoperational Bumblebee

In my HL SIPP the Gazprom line is there with a footnote: "This stock does not currently have a stock market listing."

The previous Gazprom div was in October 2022. Nothing paid into SIPP.

Edited to add: is this others' experience?

Edited May 19, 2023 by Heart's Ease

[sleepwello'nights]

26 minutes ago, belfastchild said:

Just a heads up on voting via Ajbell. It has to be done by 10am today (Friday 19th)

I got an email from the ISA provider my Polymetal holding is with. It shows a control number, that might be unique to me,. with instructions on how to vote online.

The email asks me to return it to the provider for them to submit my vote by 22nd May with the proviso "In the absence of instructions from your part, no action will be carried out."

They also say "The cost required by the depository to process the vote is GBP 100.00 (to be paid by the voting customer).

I won't be asking them to vote on my behalf, that's for sure. I might try to vote on the site given in the proxy vote form, I doubt my vote in agreement with the proposal is needed.  

Just had a closer look and the SRN and PIN are blank. I won't be voting. 

 

Edited May 19, 2023 by sleepwello'nights
Blank SRN

[BurntBread]

15 minutes ago, Heart's Ease said:

Nice to see you @Inoperational Bumblebee

In my HL SIPP the Gazprom line is there with a footnote: "This stock does not currently have a stock market listing."

The previous Gazprom div was in October 2022. Nothing paid into SIPP.

Edited to add: is this others' experience?

I've got Gazprom NEFT,  but in an HL fund & share account (i.e. outside a tax wrapper). There is just a popup to say "factsheet not available" and "trading not available".

The last divi I got from them was 4th February 2022, which was the occasion of my remarking to someone at work, "Well, Gazprom just paid me a nice fat dividend, so as far as I'm concerned, Putin can have the Ukraine". Understandably, this didn't go down very well.

[Inoperational Bumblebee]

4 hours ago, wherebee said:

You might not get the divvies, as the RUSSIAN sanctions means that POLY may not be able to deal with western brokers....

This is a major point of the re-dom AFAICS; Kazakhstan is not on the list of sanctioned countries from either side. We're not getting divs right now as Jersey is sanctioned by Russia.

4 hours ago, belfastchild said:

Just a heads up on voting via Ajbell. It has to be done by 10am today (Friday 19th)

Oops.

4 hours ago, Heart's Ease said:

Nice to see you @Inoperational Bumblebee

In my HL SIPP the Gazprom line is there with a footnote: "This stock does not currently have a stock market listing."

The previous Gazprom div was in October 2022. Nothing paid into SIPP.

Edited to add: is this others' experience?

Hi! It's nice to be back, and thanks for noticing.
I've had an insane few years that appear to have amounted to nothing particularly beneficial to me, but it's been great for the family as a whole, and I've managed to steer my job in the most interesting direction, albeit for no extra cash.

I've not had divs from Gazprom since August 2021, though I'm holding something on iWeb described as 'GAZPROM PJSC SPON ADR EA REP 2 ORD SHS  (173W)' that I apparently bought on XTR. Is that Germany?
It's been moved out of my ISA into general account, and has no value.

Edited May 19, 2023 by Inoperational Bumblebee
Updated Gazprom description

[sancho panza]

21 hours ago, Inoperational Bumblebee said:

At present, our position remains that we will continue to maintain custody of the certificated holding after the re-domiciliation takes place. The AIX is recognised by HMRC as a qualifying ISA market, so the shares will still remain eligible to be held in an ISA after the LSE delisting. The shares will also remain eligible to remain within a SIPP.

Prior to the redomicile taking effect, you have the following options:

· You may request to convert your holding to certificated form to be held directly in your own name - This request must be submitted by the 30th of June 2023.
· You may sell your shares prior to the trading suspension date - 14 July 2023.
· You may transfer your holding to another broker which supports trading on the AIX - This request must be submitted by the 30th of June 2023.
· You may retain your shares in your account and receive certificated holding under our nominee name that cannot be traded electronically.

Please note, if you hold your shares in a SIPP or Junior ISA, the option to withdraw your shares and have them converted into physical certificate registered directly in your own name is not available on these products.

By withdrawing the shares from your ISA or Lifetime ISA, you will lose the associated tax benefits for the shares value. For Lifetime ISAs you will also be subject to the governments 25% withdrawal charge.
We will only be able to complete the withdrawal if the stock remains active in crest, the UK settlement system.

If you would like to convert your Polymetal International plc shares into physical certificates, registered directly in your own name, please send a secure message by the deadline following the procedure below.
- Within the Subject field of the message, include: CORPORATE ACTION - Polymetal International plc - 9782539
- Ensure that you quote details of the corporate event and the number of shares you wish to convert.

All requests will be handled on a best endeavours basis.

Please note that you are under no obligation to convert your shares in this manner. If you dont decide to convert, we will continue to reflect your Polymetal shares on your portfolio, maintain a record of your holding on our books.

Certificated holdings are considered to be highly illiquid as electronic market making and settlement are unavailable. While AJ Bell will endeavour to offer you the ability to trade post certification, it must be noted that trading may not be possible. Where trading is possible it will incur additional fees including (but not limited to): re-registration fees, cross border fees, postal costs etc which will, in turn, be charged to the share holder and not covered by AJ Bell as Broker and Nominee.

To view the company circular in full, please copy and paste the below link into your web browser:
https://data.fca.org.uk/artefacts/NSM/Portal/NI-000074869/NI-000074869.pdf

Please copy and paste the below FAQ link into your web browser for more information on corporate actions:
https://www.ajbell.co.uk/sites/ajbell.co.uk/files/AJB_Corporate_action_FAQs.pdf

IMPORTANT NOTE - If you have any questions or queries regarding this event, please send us a secure message and ensure you quote the following in the Subject field: CORPORATE ACTION - Polymetal International plc - 9782539

Updated: 18/05/23

 

On 17/05/2023 at 17:17, AWW said:

Just had a message from HL suggesting that POLY shares can continue to be held in a SIPP even after delisting from LSE.

No info on what happens to dividends though.

 

On 18/05/2023 at 12:31, Pip321 said:

Mine are in a SIPP, I have sent an email to AJ Bell for advice. They are looking into it....surprising they have not issued a message on the basis last year they boasted Poly was their most bought share by small investors (volume rather than value I am sure). 

AIX is fine to be held in a SIPP (per HMRC)....its just whether they will do it.

If not then at least I know and can decide when to sell from the SIPP...ie if we have a mini run up. 

reading ebtween the lines of these psots it would appear that the big UK Brokers are working on a solution due

1) teh astana excahnge is SIPP eligible

2) they have a load of customers who are going to be focred into the arms of a new broker if tehy do nothing.

 

from the look of things if they elt you hold it in a SIPP then they must be pondering a mechanism to get the divis to you.

 

All psotive news imho.However,unless something firm gets confirmed, we'll be certificating and hodling via tabys our holdings is too chunky to take the risk of it getting stuck in limbo.

 

Edited May 19, 2023 by sancho panza

[TNS]

US Sanction, it just gets better and better 

[wherebee]

15 minutes ago, TNS said:

US Sanction, it just gets better and better 

Only aimed at the russia business, not the parent POLY.

Calm down dear.  I have no doubt at all that various US and UK politicians have a bucketload in POLY, as do blackrock and other funds.

[Majorpain]

Tried to buy in this morning around 150p, for a Billion £ company there was minimal liquidity around the bottom and they had to walk it up to 190's before I got some.  

DYOR but if you do want to sell don't panic sell and definitely try and get at least above 200p.

Edited May 22, 2023 by Majorpain

[Inoperational Bumblebee]

I sent AJBell these questions:

Quote

1. Will my POLY shares in my ISA be liquidated by you, or will they remain in there [Kazakh shares are OK in an ISA according to HMRC] but be unable to be traded as you do not offer trading on AIX?
2. If the latter, would I still receive dividends?
3. Are you intending to publish any guidance for holders of POLY, and if , when? Now, prior to the vote, would be ideal...

reply:

Quote

Please be advised we will not be force liquidating this holding for any shareholders, they will remain in your custody but will be withdrawn in certificate form while still being held in the nominee account with us.

As far as dividends our understanding is that dividends are to be distributed to certificated positions. However, this is currently being confirmed with the company. Furthermore, should dividends be paid, it is likely that it will be via cheque so please be advised that payment would be expected after market announced pay date.

[sancho panza]

2 hours ago, wherebee said:

Only aimed at the russia business, not the parent POLY.

Calm down dear.  I have no doubt at all that various US and UK politicians have a bucketload in POLY, as do blackrock and other funds.

Clearly Blackroack needed another buying opporutnity.maybe the tree hadn't been shaekn enough.Theyve had a year to sacntion and decide to do it now?

[sancho panza]

18 minutes ago, Inoperational Bumblebee said:

Please be advised we will not be force liquidating this holding for any shareholders, they will remain in your custody but will be withdrawn in certificate form while still being held in the nominee account with us.

As far as dividends our understanding is that dividends are to be distributed to certificated positions. However, this is currently being confirmed with the company. Furthermore, should dividends be paid, it is likely that it will be via cheque so please be advised that payment would be expected after market announced pay date.

That's super news and kind of hints that clearly some of the brokers are gettign worried about this from various angles eg Astana being SIPP eligible, losing customers to other brokers.

So it may be that we should get our holding transferred to HL as they clearly look to be working on a solution to the dividend issue.

Has anyone else got a view on whetehr this might be a a good option.Seems promising?

Edited May 22, 2023 by sancho panza

[Pip321]

On 22/05/2023 at 12:00, sancho panza said:

That's super news and kind of hints that clearly some of the brokers are gettign worried about this from various angles eg Astana being SIPP eligible, losing customers to other brokers.

So it may be that we should get our holding transferred to HL as they clearly look to be working on a solution to the dividend issue.

Has anyone else got a view on whetehr this might be a a good option.Seems promising?

Bearing in mind my Poly are with AJ Bell in a SIPP it looks like they will hold them for me per @Inoperational Bumblebee post. 

Is there any advantage to HL....I was planning to stick with AJ Bell? 

 

[sancho panza]

17 hours ago, Pip321 said:

Bearing in mind my Poly are with AJ Bell in a SIPP it looks like they will hold them for me per @Inoperational Bumblebee post. 

Is there any advantage to HL....I was planning to stick with AJ Bell? 

 

No I think the big dealers have obviosuly worked on something behind the scenes to possibly (down the line) get access to the Astana exchange.

Ours are with a small phone broker we use and so I'll possibly transfer to a big broker.The only account we have is with HL.

AJ Bell/HL/II etc will all be much of a muchness I'd have thoguth.

[JimmyTheBruce]

8 hours ago, sancho panza said:

AJ Bell/HL/II etc will all be much of a muchness I'd have thoguth.

I wish.  I've informed II that both the others are allowing SIPP holders to just let them sit in the SIPP after delisting.  They're still insisting that they will liquidate the holdings.

I've suggested that they don't have the right to sell my holdings without my permission, particularly when the actions of other brokers demonstrate viable alternatives.  Awaiting a response.

[Majorpain]

1 hour ago, JimmyTheBruce said:

I've suggested that they don't have the right to sell my holdings without my permission, particularly when the actions of other brokers demonstrate viable alternatives.  Awaiting a response.

I had a quick read of T and C and there is nothing in there about them having right to liquidate outside of you owing them money, which is standard for execution only broker.

I don't think they are going to put out any different advice of what to do, its up to your risk tolerance as to whether you want to risk II selling them, transfer to someone else who 100% isn't or get certificates.

[sancho panza]

@JimmyTheBruce I think thats good advice from @Majorpain.If you're guranteed to keep them with AJBell/HL then takea view as to how important the holding is.

I've jsut had an email from wood.com, a Broker that links direct to Astana exchange.

Does wnyone know how HL will get the dividends to you,will it be cheuque?

 

'Dear.....

We would like to provide you with some preliminary information on the onboarding process that will take place in the coming days. We continue to ask for your patience as we analyze the needs of the diverse shareholder base and try to find a solution for the majority of cases (admittedly, given the timeframe, there may be situations that are outside the scope of the service we can offer - we will endeavor to identify such situations and communicate accordingly as soon as possible).

 

As you are aware, there are specific circumstances surrounding this project and the adaptation of our standard onboarding package to reflect the complexities of current regulatory & sanctions requirements is underway. We are confident that we will be able to begin distributing the specific onboarding packages to the first set of stockholders this week. We thank you for your patience in the meantime; you will appreciate that the core of our offer is to allow onboarded Polymetal shareholders to:

1. Open a custody account linked to AIX CSD in Kazakhstan,
2. transfer your existing position in Polymetal ordinary shares into this account (in cooperation with your current custodian/broker),
3. place a sell order on AIX CSD (should you wish to reduce the position),
4. participate in the proposed redomiciliation corporate action in respect of the position held in the custody account on the record date.

 

In particular, the onboarding package will include:

 

i) A bespoke Polymetal-related contract - we daresay that the contract will be based on a fairly standard EU brokerage agreement with a simple custody addendum.

 

ii) KYC form - it will speed up your on-boarding considerably if you begin to collect documentation for the following key areas that will be covered during the KYC process:

• Your legal/personal details (name, address, IDs)
• Contact details
• Ultimate beneficial owners and ownership structure
• Legal entity and authorized persons
• Tax domicile
• Bank accounts
• Source of income

(detailed explanation will be included in the KYC form; some of the questions will only apply if you are a legal entity, but please be prepared to provide supporting documentation such as copies of IDs and/or statutory documents from commercial or court registers, possibly certified if you are located outside the EU).

Could you please let us know if you hold the shares as a physical person or as a legal entity – so we know which of the KYC form to send you, once ready?

 

iii) Guidance to your broker/custodian on the settlement route that the initial transfer of shares must take - both WOOD & Co and your current broker/custodian will need to exchange certain technical information (called SDI or 'standard delivery instructions') about the way in which the shares are currently held for you, so that we can successfully process the subsequent transfer of shares into our custody (an 'NCBO' = no-change-of-beneficial-owner transfer). It would be helpful if you could provide us with a copy of your most recent statement of holdings from your provider. We may also need to contact your provider directly. Would you please be so kind and let us know your current holding in Polymetal?

 

You will note that WOOD & Company is an EU-based broker (domiciled in the Czech Republic and regulated by the Czech National Bank), which has some notable implications for the expectations of the service we are currently authorized to provide (situation as of 23 May 2023).

 

Please be informed that:

 

a. for onboarded clients, WOOD & Co will be able to provide custody services for holding positions in ordinary shares of Polymetal International (ISIN: JE00B6T5S470) and clients will also be able to place a sell order in this instrument with AIX. However, the current sanctions regime does not allow EU brokers to intermediate additional purchases.

b. Upon completion of the necessary KYC/AML onboarding procedures, both professional and non-professional investors will be able to hold shares in their account with WOOD & Co in accordance with EU regulations, provided that their current custodian/broker is able to deliver Polymetal International ordinary shares (ISIN: JE00B6T5S470) to the international central securities depository level operated by Euroclear (this is the institution where the AIX CSD holds its international shares registered for trading with AIX in Kazakhstan; as explained in section iii. above, we are preparing settlement guidance for your custodian/broker on how to match our receipt counter-instruction there). Other forms of holding an interest in Polymetal International, such as depository receipts (ADRs, GDRs) or share swaps through a third party broker, will require prior conversion into ordinary shares by your custodian/broker before WOOD & Co can match their delivery instruction in Euroclear.

c. Please note that WOOD & Co is not in a position to provide services that are not covered by our EU licenses, particularly where additional authorization would be required in the US or UK - namely we are not familiar with Self-Invested Pension Plan (SIPP) schemes in the UK, nor 'Roth IRAs' for US individuals (and we have no aspirations to enter these businesses). However, we can still receive and hold Ordinary Shares for onboarded clients as explained in a. and b. above and in sections 1-4.

 

 

Best regards

 

Martina Bartusková
Wealth Management Client Service Specialist

 

T: +420 222 096 414 | M: +420 603 415 578   
E: [email protected]

 

WOOD & Company
Palladium, nám. Republiky 1079/1a | 110 00 Prague 1, Czech Republic | wood.cz

 

 

Edited May 25, 2023 by sancho panza

[sancho panza]

I've jsut reread the thread on HL and whilst it looks like SIPPs and ISA holdings will get certificated and held,have we had any guidance on whetehr their ordinary share trading account will be treated similarly?

I might jsut set up and AJ Bell account,are they any good?AJ Bell appear to be the ebst bet for keeping them with a UK broker from what I can see of what @JimmyTheBruce is saying about II.

Has anyone had any fuirsther contact from HL on this matter?

Edited May 26, 2023 by sancho panza