PATRIA

It’s always a pleasure to work with the Team at Equiniti. The Team is proactive in managing dividend timetables, shareholder mailings and AGMs, and always responsive when responding to queries.

They are trustworthy technical experts, providing guidance and advice throughout the year and when partnering on projects. We’ve never heard any negative feedback from shareholders or our clients. I’d highly recommend partnering with Equiniti.”

Company Secretary
Patria Investments

POLAR CAPITAL

EQ were engaged as the Registrar and Corporate Action partner to Polar Capital Technology Trust on its management transition to Polar Capital in 2001. Since then, two further Investment Trusts were launched in 2010 and 2013, also managed by Polar Capital, with EQ being engaged once again. EQ also provides share registration services to the main Polar Capital Group companies in the UK.

Over the years, a number of corporate actions have been carried out by each of the Investment Trusts, including continuation votes, tender offers and full reconstructions plus the launch, maintenance, and expiry of a ZDP entity. We have been very happy with the support received from EQ and they have remained Polar Capital’s sole trusted partner for Registrar and Corporate Action Services.”

Group Company Secretary
Polar Capital

Common Reporting Standards and FATCA

Since the introduction of CRS in 2016, our teams have been continually developing our approach to supporting our Investment Trust clients, keeping pace with HMRC changes. We have robust reporting processes in place for monitoring the share register, identifying shareholders where further information needs to be sought, seeking information from certain shareholders, and reporting information annually to HMRC on relevant shareholders.

There is strict governance of these procedures, and they are regularly reviewed considering emerging legislation, revised HMRC/IRS guidance, and for continuous improvement.

Internal Auditing - AAF Report

We commission a Type II AAF 01/20 Assurance Report annually which describes the control environment within our Share Registration Services. The report is based upon the framework for transfer agencies as set out by the Institutes of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales Technical Release 01/20.

A strong internal control environment is a key element in delivering high quality, risk-managed services to our diverse portfolio of clients. The assurance report provides information for clients, prospective clients, and their auditors and AIFMs on how we effectively manage the risk in our business and how we operate the control environment we have in place.

Tap Into Our Knowledge

To accompany and supplement this report we also offer our clients the opportunity for a review with our subject matter experts on areas of interest for the Audit Committee or wider board. This can take the form of one of our experts joining a scheduled call. Or, if preferred, a review in person at our offices. We often host clients in this way, at our offices in Worthing and at our Customer Experience Centre in Birmingham.

We also support any client-specific assurances such as the annual supplier diligence checks required annually by some of our Investment Trust clients. These are supported through a specific project manager who collates responses from the wider business and ensures agreed deliverables are met.