Government response to DEMAT Implementation Plan – July 2026
Updated 14 July 2026
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In July 2025 the government accepted the Digitisation Taskforce’s 3-step plan to remove paper share certificates, make it easier for shareholders to exercise rights through intermediaries (such as brokers and investment platforms) and ultimately move to a more efficient system where everyone will hold shares through such intermediaries. These reforms aim to reduce costs for companies and make it easier for investors to hold and trade shares, in turn supporting retail investment in UK markets.
The government set up the Dematerialisation Market Action Taskforce (DEMAT), chaired by Mark Austin CBE, to work with industry on how each step in this process should happen. The DEMAT has today published an implementation plan for ‘Step 1’ of the dematerialisation process – removing paper shares and requiring companies to keep digital share registers.
The government welcomes the plan and accepts its recommendations. As recommended, the government will legislate to mandate that all publicly traded UK companies must keep digital share registers and that paper shares in those companies will no longer be evidence of ownership. The legislation will come into force before the end of 2027. The government will confirm the specific date in due course, and will give stakeholders sufficient advanced sight of the legislation to support preparations.
The plan also sets out what industry stakeholders need to do to deliver these changes - the government encourages impacted market participants to engage with the DEMAT to implement these recommendations. The government also welcomes the DEMAT commitment to produce operational standards for the digital share registers and looks forward to seeing these in due course.
The plan confirms that current paper shareholders do not need to take any action to digitise their shares in this first phase – this process will be led by companies and their representatives, guided by the DEMAT, who will keep shareholders informed. This will include information on how shareholders can view and manage their shares once they are digitised, and what support will be available to shareholders who may find online access or electronic communications difficult. Shareholder rights will be unaffected.
The government reiterates that this first stage is temporary, designed to remove paper shares quickly while providing time to complete the wider reforms. The government remains committed to implementing legislation over the course of this Parliament to improve how shareholders can exercise their rights through intermediaries, in preparation for the transition to a fully intermediated system, and looks forward to working with the DEMAT on these measures. As with the first step, shareholders will be kept informed of any actions they need to take and the support that will be available.