Stock certificates feared damaged by Sandy

[Taurean]

Anybody beginning to see a pattern forming here ?




Trillions of dollars worth of stock certificates and other paper securities that were stored in a vault in lower Manhattan may have suffered water damage from Superstorm Sandy.

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corp., an industry-run clearing house for Wall Street, said the contents of its vault "are likely damaged," after its building at 55 Water Street "sustained significant water damage" from the storm that battered New York City's financial district earlier this week.

The vault contains certificates registered to Cede & Co., a subsidiary of DTCC, as well as "custody certificates" in sealed envelopes that belong to clients.

The DTCC provides "custody and asset servicing" for more than 3.6 million securities worth an estimated $36.5 trillion, according to its website.

http://buzz.money.cnn.com/2012/11/02/stock-certificates-sandy/

[Ilie Pandia]

What a convenient excuse :)

Those vaults are fire and water proof as far as I know.

Actually I cannot verify the above statement other that what I recall from various "thief movies", but it would kinda stupid to not have any kind of disaster insurance...

[Equipoise]

When I read the article yesterday, I thought the same thing, re: a "pattern forming". It will be the "reason" or excuse to lose the records of all the naked shorted shares. It's just more theft, rationalized (by the irrational) & buried under a Blizzard of Bull****.

[Snoweagle]

So they are water damaged. Big Deal. They do not lose authenticity.
Have you ever dropped your wallet or purse into water? Did the coins dissolve? Did the ink run from the bank notes?
In exactly the same way, these documents will be produced with quality papers, vellum and water proof inks.

The assertion that those documents have "sustained significant water damage" is poppycock and LIES. The only damage those documents will suffer is the manner in which they are handled until dry.
Having worked in many secure locations, such as this, I can vouch that considering the length of time these documents MAY have been subjected to ANY form of water damage would have been minimal, therefore, the extent of damage I would consider applying would be "inconvenient and troublesome".
Furthermore, modern vaults are generally considered "air-tight" which means that even submerged the extent of water ingress into the vault is minimal. Older vaults, may allow a trickle into the vault if submerged. This statement does not stand for vaults which are externally provisioned with air management systems. Nevertheless, even if the vault doors had been left open over the period of the storm and ALL the documents were water soaked, doesn't mean they are "damaged".
IMO another scam in the offing here.

[conk]

Another reason to always have your broker mail the hard copies to you. They will resist strongly, but persist. Just like holding your precious metals. If you don't hold it, you don't own it.