When you buy through most brokers, your name doesn't go on the company's official share register — the broker's nominee account does, holding the shares on behalf of every customer who owns that stock. You're still the beneficial owner: entitled to the dividends, the price gains and, usually, the votes — just not the name on the certificate.
This is how custody works at scale, and it's not a loophole — it's the standard structure almost every retail broker uses, because it makes settlement faster and cheaper. In the UK, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme protects investments held this way up to a set limit per person, per authorised firm — the exact figure changes from time to time, so check the current FSCS limit rather than assuming an old one still holds.
The name on the register changed. What you're entitled to didn't.
Educational content only. It is not personal financial advice.