Holding Your Securities

There are three ways securities can be held or registered-in certificate form where your securities are registered in your name, in "street name" where your securities are registered on the books of your brokerage firm, or in "book entry" form where your securities are registered on the company's books.

You may or may not have a choice about how your securities are held. For example, recently issued municipal bonds and Treasury securities purchased directly from the U.S. Department of the Treasury can be held only in book-entry form.

For more information about the different ways securities can be held and the advantages and disadvantages of each, you can read Holding Your Securities—Get the Facts.

http://www.sec.gov/answers/holdingsecs.htm