Ownership Rights on Intermediated Securities

The article is devoted to the contemporary problems of the ownership rights on intermediated securities. Authors study ownership rights as well as reviews the models of the proprietary rights in the modern holding chains and models of the securities holding systems, such as direct, indirect and mixed. Then author reviews the multi-tiered system of intermediation holding and proprietary rights in it under the discourse of the Latvian law, which stays on the position of the individual ownership model. This model contemplates that the end-investor has complete ownership on the securities and argues that ownership rights on intermediated securities, which are confirmed by the intermediary to the end investor under Latvian approach is a current legal fiction. Objectives: The study aims at continuing development of the securities law theory, while its task is to characterise the ownership rights on intermediated securities from the point of view of Latvian law and practice. Methods/Approach Scientific research methods – both comparative and analytical – is used in the process of drawing up of this article. Results: Authors come to conclusion that the scope of the rights confirmed by intermediary is narrower than scope of the “classic” legal ownership rights.) as well as states that the type of account is the additional attribute which allows to determine the status of the proprietary rights on securities entered in. The legal fiction of the “ownership” on intermediated securities is created to eliminate too complex descriptions of underlying rights and to simplify the description of the transaction, applying clear and understandable simple structures such as sale purchase or repo.