Holder Of Record

A holder of record is the name of the person who is the registered owner of a security and who has the rights, benefits and responsibilities of ownership. The holder of record for a stock typically has shareholder voting rights and receives dividend payouts, if there are any. The holder of record for a bond owns the bond and receives the principal and interest payments. When the owner sells the security, he or she ceases to be the holder of record.

Securities can be issued in either "registered" or "bearer" form. Registered form means the issuing firm keeps records of a security's owner and mails out payments to him/her. Bearer form means the security is traded without any record of ownership; physical possession of the security is the sole evidence of ownership. Bearer form securities have largely been phased out due to their potential for misuse. Presently, securities are mostly issued in registered form.