An Act providing a uniform law for the transfer of securities to and by fiduciaries in the District of Columbia
PL 86-584 (H.R.10021), enacted 07/05/1960

322 
PUBLIC LAW 86-584-JULY 5, 1960 
[74 ST A T , 
Public Law 86-584 
July 5, 1960 
[H.R. 10021] 
District of Co-
lumbia 
Uniform 
Act for Simplifi-
cation of Fiduciary 
Security Trans-
fers. 
AN ACT 
Providing a uniform law for the transfer of securities to and by fiduciaries in 
the District of Columbia. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled^ 
DEFINITIONS 
SECTION 1.- In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires: 
(a) "Assignment'- includes any written stock power, bond power, 
bill of sale, deed, declaration of trust or other instrument of transfer. 
(b) "Claim of beneficial interest" includes a claim of any interest 
by a decedent's legatee, distributee, heir or creditor, a beneficiary 
under a trust, a ward, a beneficial owner of a security registered in 
the name of a nominee, or a minor owner of a security registered in 
the name of a custodian, or a claim of any similar interest, whether 
the claim is asserted by the claimant or by a fiduciary or by any other 
authorized person on his behalf, and includes a claim that the transfer 
would be in breach of fiduciary duties. 
(c) "Corporation" means a private or public corporation, associ-
ation or trust issuing a security. 
(d) "Fiduciary" means an executor, administrator, trustee, guard-
ian, committee, conservator, curator, tutor, custodian or nominee. 
(e) "Person" includes an individual, a corporation, government or 
governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, festate, trust, 
partnership or association, two or more persons having a joint or 
common interest, or any other legal or commercial entity. 
(f) "Security" includes any share of stock, bond, debenture, note 
or other security issued by a corporation which is registered as to 
ownership on the books of the corporation. 
(g) "Transfer" means a change on the books of a corporation in 
the registered ownership of a security. 
(h) "Transfer agent^' means a person employed or authorized by a 
corporation to transfer securities issued by the corporation. 
REGISTRATION IN THE NAME OF A FIDUCIARY 
SEC. 2. A corporation or transfer agent registering a security in the 
name of a person who is a fiduciary or who is described as a fiduciary 
is not bound to inquire into the existence, extent, or correct description 
of the fiduciary relationship, and thereafter the corporation and its 
transfer agent may assume without inquiry that the newly registered 
owner continues to be the fiduciary until the corporation or transfer 
agent receives written notice that the fiduciary is no longer acting as 
such with respect to the particular security. 
ASSIGNMENT BY A FIDUCIARY 
SEC. 3. Except as otherwise provided in this Act, a corporation or 
transfer agent making a transfer of a security pursuant to an assign-
ment by a fiduciary— 
(a) may assume without inquiry that the assignment, even 
though to the fiduciary himself or his nominee, is within his 
authority and capacity and is not in breach of his 
fiduciary 
duties; 
(b) may assume without inquiry that the fiduciary has com-
plied with any controlling instrument and with the law of the 
74 S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 86-584-JULY 5, 1960 
323 
jurisdiction governing the fiduciary relationship, including any 
law requiring the fiduciary to obtain court approval of the trans-
fer ; and 
(c) is not charged with notice of and is not bound to obtain 
or examine any court record or any recorded or unrecorded 
document relating to the fiduciary relationship or the assign-
ment, even though the record or document is in its possession. 
EVIDENCE o r APPOINTMENT OR INCUMBENCY 
SEC. 4. A corporation or transfer agent making a transfer pursuant 
to an assignment by a fiduciary who is not the registered owner shall 
obtain the following evidence of appointment or incumbency: 
(a) In the case of a fiduciary appointed or qualified by a court, a 
certificate issued by or under the direction or supervision of that court 
or an officer thereof and dated within sixty days before the transfer; or 
(b) In any other case, a copy of a document showing the appoint-
ment or a certificate issued by or on behalf of a person reasonably 
believed by the corporation or transfer agent to be responsible or, in 
the absence of such a document or certificate, other evidence reasonably 
deemed by the corporation or transfer agent to be appropriate. 
Cor-
porations and transfer agents may adopt standards with respect to 
evidence of appointment or incumbency under this subsection (b) pro-
vided such standards are not manifestly unreasonable. 
Neither the 
corporation nor transfer agent is charged with notice of the contents 
of any document obtained pursuant to this subsection (b) except to 
the extent that the contents relate directly to the appointment or in-
cumbency. 
ADVERSE CLAIMS 
SEC. 5. (a) A person asserting a claim of beneficial interest adverse 
to the transfer of a security pursuant to an assignment by a fiduciary 
may give the corporation or transfer agent written notice of the claim. 
The corporation or transfer agent is not put on notice unless the writ-
ten notice identifies the claimant, the registered owner and the issue 
of which the security is a part, provides an address for communica-
tions directed to the claimant and is received before the transfer. 
Nothing in this Act relieves the corporation or transfer agent of any 
liability for making or refusing to make the transfer after it is so 
put on notice, unless it proceeds in the manner authorized in subsec-
tion (b). 
(b) As soon as practicable after the presentation of a security for 
transfer pursuant to an assignment by a fiduciary, a corporation or 
transfer agent which has received notice of a claim of beneficial 
interest adverse to the transfer may send notice of the presentation by 
registered or certified mail to the claimant at the address given by 
him. If the corporation or transfer agent so mails such a notice it shall 
withhold the transfer for thirty days after the mailing and shall then 
make the transfer unless restrained by a court order. 
NONLIABILITY OF CORPORATION AND TRANSFER AGENT 
SEC. 6. A corporation or transfer a^ent incurs no liability to any 
person by making a transfer or otherwise acting in a manner author-
ized by this Act. 
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PUBLIC LAW 86-584-JULY 5, 1960 
[74 STAT. 
NONLIABILITY OIT THIRD PERSONS 
SEC. 7. (a) No person who participates in the acquisition, disposi-
tion, assignment or transfer of a security by or to a fiduciary including 
a person who guarantees the signature of the fiduciary is liable for 
participation in any breach of fiduciary duty by reason of failure to 
inquire whether the transaction involves such a breach unless it is 
shown that he acted with actual knowledge that the proceeds of the 
transaction were being or were to be used wrongfully for the individual 
benefit of the fiduciary or that the transaction was otherwise in breach 
of duty. 
(b) If a corporation or transfer agent makes a transfer pursuant 
to an assignment by a fiduciary, a person who guaranteed the signa-
ture of the fiduciary is not liable oh the guarantee to any person to 
whom the corporation or transfer agent by reason of this Act incurs 
no liability. 
(c) This section does not impose any liability upon the corporation 
or its transfer agent. 
TERRITORIAL APPLICATION 
SEC. 8. (a) The rights and duties of a corporation and its transfer 
agents in registering a security in the name of a fiduciary or in making 
a transfer of a security pursuant to an assignment by a fiduciary are 
governed by the law of the jurisdiction under whose laws the corpora-
tion is organized. 
(b) This Act applies to the rights and duties of a person other 
than the corporation and its transfer agents with regard to acts and 
omissions in the District of Columbia m connection with the acqui-
sition, disposition, assignment or transfer of a security by or to a 
fiduciary and of a person who guarantees in the District of Columbia 
the signature of a fiduciary in connection with such a transaction. 
TAX OBLIGATIONS 
SEC. 9. This Act does not affect any obligation of a corporation or 
transfer agent with respect to estate, inheritance, succession or other 
taxes imposed by the laws of the District of Columbia. 
UNIFORMITY OF INTERPRETATION 
SEC. 10. This Act shall be so construed as to effectuate its general 
purpose to make uniform the law of those States which enact it. 
SHORT TITLE 
SEC. 11. This Act may be cited as the District of Columbia Uni-
form Act for Simplification of Fiduciary Security Transfers. 
REPEAL 
SEC. 12. Section 3 of the Uniform Fiduciaries Act, approved May 
D. c. code 28- ^4^ 1928 (45 Stat. 510), is hereby repealed. 
2303 
TIME OF TAKING EFFFXIT 
SEC. 13. This Act shall take effect on the date of its enactment. 
Approved July 5, 1960.