Standalone22 Oct 2013 21:04
Trust me! This one is not easy to buy! However, as it is dual listed both here and in the US you will need to complete a form. That's the bad news. The good news is it is VERY easy to complete - name address and signature. On Barclays you download Form23 which is W-8BEN. This can be found at the bottom of their web page. Be sure to write United Kingdom and not UK otherwise it will not be accepted. If you are not with Barclays then just ask. After that it can only be bought manually and that means not by you! So, your broker speaks with a Market Maker and gets a price which you agree to. Otherwise, you place an order and hope for the best. This is not an easy share to buy but, finally, today I got my hands on just over 164,000 shares. I am quite excited but boy was it made difficult! If you are not with Barclays then just ask and they will know which form it is. It is basically because you are buying a US listed stock so the FSA have strict rules - hence the form. It is listed on AIM too but the US bit makes it way more beauocratic than a normal share transaction. For me, it's worth the hassle though. Good Luck. . . .