CORPORATIONS-TRANSFER OF CORPORATE SHARES-THEFT, FORGERY-EFFECT OF UNIFORM STOCK TRANSFER ACT

Authors

Abstract

Though a certificate of stock is in fact nothing more than prima facie evidence of ownership of a designated number of shares of stock in the corporation and except for its value as evidence is in itself worthless, thieves and forgers have not been deterred from frequently making such certificates the subject of their nefarious practices. The usual result of a theft or forgery of a certificate is a legal contest between the person who owned the certificate and the stock represented by it, and the person who purchased from the thief or forger in good faith and for value. Both are innocent and one must suffer a loss. It is well known that a thief can pass good title to a negotiable instrument to a holder in due course. It is equally well known that the purchase of an ordinary chattel from a thief passes no title to the vendee. Obviously it must therefore be determined in the situation here under consideration into which class a certificate of stock falls.

Recommended Citation

CORPORATIONS-TRANSFER OF CORPORATE SHARES-THEFT, FORGERY-EFFECT OF UNIFORM STOCK TRANSFER ACT, 27 Mich. L. Rev. 93 (1928).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol27/iss1/8