On 24 November 2020, there was published on legislation.gov.uk The Bearer Certificates (Collective Investment Schemes) Regulations 2020.

The Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 (SBEE 2015) amended the Companies Act 2006 to prohibit the issuance of new bearer certificates by companies and provided for a transitional conversion of existing bearer certificates into ordinary registered shares within a certain time period. However, a later review found that the SBEE 2015 provisions were not comprehensive, since two types of collective investment scheme registered in the UK maintain the power to issue bearer certificates: open-ended investment companies (OEIC) incorporated before 26 June 2017 and unauthorised unit trusts. This latest statutory instrument closes this loop hole. The transition provisions state that the OEIC or operator of an unauthorised unit trust must cancel any outstanding bearer certificates still held on 1 January 2022 with effect from that day and pay the value into a bank account.