Section 51 — Canada Business Corporations Act: Dealings with registered holder

A corporation or a trustee defined in subsection 82(1) may, subject to sections 134, 135 and 138, treat the registered owner of a security as the person exclusively entitled to vote, to receive notices, to receive any interest, dividend or other payments in respect of the security, and otherwise to exercise all the rights and powers of an owner of the security. Notwithstanding subsection (1), a corporation whose articles restrict the right to transfer its securities shall, and any other corporation may, treat a person as a registered security holder entitled to exercise all the rights of the security holder that the person represents, if the person furnishes the corporation with evidence as described in subsection 77(4) that the person is the heir of a deceased security holder, or the personal representative of the heirs, or the personal representative of the estate or succession of a deceased security holder; a personal representative of a registered security holder who is an infant, an incapable person or a missing person; or a liquidator of, or a trustee in bankruptcy for, a registered security holder. If a person on whom the ownership of a security devolves by operation of law, other than a person described in subsection (2), furnishes proof of the person’s authority to exercise rights or privileges in respect of a security of the corporation that is not registered in the person’s name, the corporation shall treat the person as entitled to exercise those rights or privileges. A corporation is not required to inquire into the existence of, or see to the performance or observance of, any duty owed to a third person by a registered holder of any of its securities or by anyone whom it treats, as permitted or required by this section, as the owner or registered holder thereof. If a person who is less than 18 years of age exercises any rights of ownership in the securities of a corporation, no subsequent repudiation or avoidance or, in Quebec, annulment or reduction of obligations is effective against the corporation. A corporation may treat as owner of a security the survivors of persons to whom the security was issued as joint holders, if it receives proof satisfactory to it of the death of any such joint holder. Subject to any applicable law relating to the collection of taxes, a person referred to in paragraph (2)(a) is entitled to become a registered holder, or to designate a registered holder, if the person deposits with the corporation or its transfer agent the original grant of probate, of letters of administration or, in Quebec, of the probate of the will or of the notarial minutes of the probate, or a copy certified to be a true copy of one of those documents by the court that granted the probate or letters of administration, or the notary who prepared the minutes of the probate, a trust company incorporated under the laws of Canada or a province, or a lawyer or notary acting on behalf of the person referred to in paragraph (2)(a), or in the case of transmission by notarial will in Quebec, an authentic copy established in accordance with the laws of that province, together with an affidavit or declaration of transmission made by a person referred to in paragraph (2)(a), stating the particulars of the transmission, and the security certificate that was owned by the deceased holder in case of a transfer to a person referred to in paragraph (2)(a), with or without the endorsement of that person, and in case of a transfer to any other person, endorsed in accordance with section 65, and accompanied by any assurance the corporation may require under section 77. Despite subsection (7), if the laws of the jurisdiction governing the transmission of a security of a deceased holder do not require a grant of probate or of letters of administration or the probate of the will or the notarial minutes of the probate in respect of the transmission, a personal representative of the deceased holder is entitled, subject to any applicable law relating to the collection of taxes, to become a registered holder or to designate a registered holder, if the personal representative deposits with the corporation or its transfer agent the security certificate that was owned by the deceased holder; and reasonable proof of the governing laws, of the deceased holder’s interest or right in the security and of the right of the personal representative or the person designated by the personal representative to become the registered holder. Deposit of the documents required by subsection (7) or (8) empowers a corporation or its transfer agent to record in a securities register the transmission of a security from the deceased holder to a person referred to in paragraph (2)(a) or to such person as the person referred to in that paragraph may designate and, thereafter, to treat the person who thus becomes a registered holder as the owner of those securities.