Interesting facts about the risks of some investments.

[Por_sha911]

I never knew this. I'm not a doom and gloom prophet (think Tabs) but the mechanisms are in place.

You might say "it will never happen.." but look at how desperate some people are becoming to dig out of the hole they put their personal finance, business, city, state, or country; in financially. I could see evil people wanting to put the economy into failure for the purpose of increasing their own wealth and power or, cover their tracks. It makes C.D.s and other investment options more attractive.

p.s. Pre 9/11 no one would have believed that America would have been attacked in such a devastating manner. We were very smug in our false sense of security.

Wall Street could seize your retirement savings in the next financial crash — and it's perfectly legal
Little-known changes to laws allow financial institutions to claim customer securities as collateral during a crisis

Because of largely unknown legal changes, millions of Americans could temporarily or even permanently lose their retirement and other investment savings in the next major financial crash, all while too-big-to-fail Wall Street firms and banks are protected.

Beginning in the 1970s, at the request of powerful Wall Street and banking institutions, state lawmakers quietly adopted a series of changes to the Uniform Commercial Code, a body of law enacted in all 50 states. These changes effectively allowed financial institutions to reassign direct ownership of most securities away from individual investors, including those holding retirement accounts and traditional brokerage accounts.

Why this system exists and what it replaced
The Depository Trust Company sits at the center of the modern securities ownership model. Major banks and broker-dealers, with the help of a mysterious figure with a long history of working for and alongside the CIA, created DTC in the early 1970s with the stated goal of alleviating Wall Street’s growing paperwork crisis.

Centuries of property law were effectively discarded. Traditional securities ownership, grounded in clear title and constitutional protections, was replaced.

Under the current DTC model, most investors no longer directly own their securities. Instead, they hold what the law refers to as a "security entitlement." This arrangement is contractual in nature. It grants certain rights and protections, but it does not confer direct registered ownership. When you buy stock in a company, you do not actually acquire the stock itself. You get a set of investment rights tied to that stock.

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/wall-street-could-seize-your-retirement-savings-next-financial-crash-its-perfectly-legal

[unclebilly]

I am certain that you can still order the share certificates. I have some certificates in my gun safe but the majority of my holdings are with a blue chip trading company…

[berettafan]

isn't that what they call 'street name' or something like that?

[Paul T]

This seems like a worthless clickbait article to me….unless I missed it, I’m not aware of any recent changes to how security ownership takes place. DTC has been around for decades, I don’t think there is anything to worry about. Sure the Feds, in theory, can confiscate everything you have if they feel like it - no new laws have been enacted that makes that more likely, to my knowledge…

[berettafan]

Paul that would be my take if my understanding is correct.

[Por_sha911]

It is not new but, for those who are looking to invest it is something to consider as we approach an age where some cities are moving toward a different view of private ownership.