Equity custody is a civil act that non-listed companies entrust the register of shareholders to equity custody institutions, and it is also a socialized service to reduce the operating cost of managing the register of shareholders.

Its essence is to make up for the shortage of the management of the shareholders' register of unlisted joint-stock companies, and an objective and fair third party will provide the unlisted joint-stock companies with the records of the shareholders' register with openness and credibility, and provide the shareholders with the valid ownership certificate of their shares.

Extended data:

In the past, stocks existed in the form of physical coupons. After investors buy stocks, most of them will take them back for safekeeping.

With the development of the securities market, the paperless trading of stocks has formed two national securities trading markets, Shenzhen Stock Exchange and Shanghai Stock Exchange, and all stocks are traded in the centralized market of the exchanges.

Securities traded and delivered through the settlement system must be registered and managed before entering the exchange for trading. At this time, the investors' shares are kept by the securities company or the exchange, not by themselves. This is the custody and centralized custody of stocks.

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