Share register
The record of who owns a company's shares, maintained by an independent registrar rather than by the issuer itself.
How to read the number
Rights arise from the entry, not from any paper certificate: meetings, dividends and buybacks are addressed to whoever appears in the register on the relevant day.
When the metric lies
A retail investor is rarely visible in the register directly — the depository holds him inside a single nominee position, and information reaches him along that chain.
Also known as: register of shareholders