In the US, the role of the central securities depository is done by the DTCC.[0] But the registered holder (nominee) of the DTCC is a separate legal entity known as Cede & Co. [1] (I recommend reading Matt Levine's article for further discourse)<p>So basically, the concept of ownership of a financial asset (which is itself, an abstraction) is further abstracted, for the purpose of making the system more efficient.<p>Fun fact: After Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the DTCC had to recover/restore many damaged paper certificates after their securities vault was flooded. I don't know whether these had any electronic entries but I assume they did. But the physical certificates still needed to be retained.[2]<p>If you're interested in this sort of market structure/market participant discussion, I'd recommend the textbook <i>Trading and Exchanges: Market Microstructure for Practitioners</i>, by Larry Harris.<p>0. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depository_Trust_%26_Clearing_Corporation" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depository_Trust_%26_Clearing_...</a><p>1. <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2015-07-14/banks-forgot-who-was-supposed-to-own-dell-shares" rel="nofollow">https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2015-07-14/banks-for...</a><p>2. <a href="http://www.dtcc.com/annuals/2013/superstorm-sandy-recovery/index.php" rel="nofollow">http://www.dtcc.com/annuals/2013/superstorm-sandy-recovery/i...</a>
Both companies and investors who have been ruined by "naked shorting" (a gray area despite regulation SHO) know more about the shadow world of settlement.<p>If you are a retail short, SHO regulations apply to you. If you are a shadowy short running operations in Bahamas, but funded by shadow partners of clearing house, you can make a killing.<p><a href="http://www.economist.com/news/finance-economics/21678146-latest-chapter-companys-battle-show-it-was-victim-abusive" rel="nofollow">http://www.economist.com/news/finance-economics/21678146-lat...</a><p><a href="http://cdn.static-economist.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/EN_Overstock_docs.zip" rel="nofollow">http://cdn.static-economist.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/EN_...</a>
<a href="http://cdn.static-economist.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/Fifth_Amended_Complaint_%28Redacted%29_Redacted.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://cdn.static-economist.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/Fif...</a>