Expert: Steven Taylor - 7/2/2009

Question
In settling my Aunts estate I have come across 70 shares of Lake Otter Uranium Mines LTD.  The transferring agent is out of business - Guaranty Trust Company of Canada.  How do I research this Company.  I want to know if these certificates are still active and have any worth.

Answer
I have been asked about Lake Otter Uranium several times, which suggests there is quite a few old certificates floating around out there. I don't know the current status of the stock, but I do see that in the early 1960's the stock made the US SEC's Canadian restricted list, which was for companies who sold their stock to Americans without proper SEC registration. That is not legal, and good, honest companies get an SEC registration before selling to Americans. It does not bode well for the ultimate value of the company, as I don't know of any companies that made the SEC's list that later did anything of value.

Usually in these cases you should contact the Transfer Agent first, but as you indicated, Guaranty Trust is long out of business. If there is a Province of Incorporation listed on the certificate, you can contact them and see what information they have on file, but considering the age of the certificate, I doubt it would be of much use to you. Therefore, your best chance is probably to take the certificate to a broker and have them perform a more detailed search for you.